Manchester United have agreed a two-and-a-half year deal to appoint Mauricio Pochettino as the club's new manager, with the announcement coming on Friday, and Gary Lineker has already predicted how long the Argentine will last at the club.

Man United finally relieved Michael Carrick of his duties on Thursday morning even though his dismissal had been publicly mooted in the media since Monday.

Jason Wilcox and Omar Berrada travelled to Monaco for talks with co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe over the 45-year-old's future, with the recommendation that he should be sacked and replaced by Pochettino.

The Red Devils have been working on an agreement to bring the former Tottenham Hotspur boss to Old Trafford this week, with GIVEMESPORT sources revealing on Wednesday night that they had reached an agreement in principle with the 54-year-old over personal terms.

Pochettino is set to take charge of the United States' two fixtures against Haiti within the next week, before heading to Manchester to prepare for the trip to Anfield to face Liverpool a week on Sunday.

After Sir Alex Ferguson managed United for 27 years between 1986 and 2013, the departure of Carrick means that Pochettino will be the 13th managerial appointment the club has made since the icon's departure 13 years ago, including interim hires.

The odds are stacked against Pochettino having a long reign at Old Trafford and, speaking on the latest episode of the Rest is Football podcast, Lineker doesn't believe he will get close to lasting the entirety of his 30-month deal.

The former Match of the Day host said: "I look at that club, and I don't think it.... I see Pochettino going in there, and I think they'll probably get off to a reasonable start. They'll do okay for a while.

I think for Pochettino, it's a big club, Manchester United, big by name. He'll go in there, and then he'll be disappointed with the way things occur in the future. And if he's still there in 18 months, I'll be surprised, because again and again, rinse and repeat.

"The scapegoat is always the coach, and you can see that. And I think the real problems are above the coach."

Lineker is Absolutely Right

In recent years, the likes of Erik ten Hag, Ruben Amorim and even Carrick, following his success last season, may have expected a good length of time in charge at Old Trafford.

Carrick's permanent position is gone within weeks, while Amorim only lasted just over a year in charge.

Given United currently lie in the relegation places in the Premier League, it is clear that the pressure will instantly be on Pochettino to produce performances and results.

He may well be able to do that, but the fact that he will be the 13th appointment since Sir Alex left 13 years ago tells you all you need to know that there are bigger issues at the club than simply the manager.

Firstly, the players must take some accountability because they are performing nowhere near the levels they were in the first half of 2026, and this has been an ongoing issue under previous managers too.

The recruitment team of Wilcox and Berrada must take some blame too, given the say they have over who the manager is and which players are being brought to the club.

In a summer when United needed to get it right ahead of returning to the Champions League, they spent £70m on an injured player who has only recently started appearing, while the £50m fee for Andrey Santos is looking more baffling by the day.

Ratcliffe has hardly made a positive impact in general too, while the view of supporters on the Glazers has been clear for a very long time.

United have a lot of issues right now and it would be no surprise if Lineker is correct, and Pochettino is no longer the club's manager by the end of next season.