Manchester United and rivals Manchester City could play out a two-horse race for a Chelsea star following the arrival of Mauricio Pochettino, reports talkSPORT.

United are heading in a new direction, with the agreement to hire Pochettino in place. They evidently need to see change, given they’re 18th in the Premier League after 10 games.

The USMNT boss is already being linked with some interesting moves, including some for American stars.

Beside that, United have been credited with interest in Chelsea right-back Malo Gusto, who hasn’t started a Premier League game for two months.

talkSPORT reports the Red Devils and rivals Manchester City are both keeping tabs on the right-back, and could soon be set to pounce.

There’s a suggestion there could be a two-horse race for Chelsea’s defender, though it’s not currently clear if the Manchester sides will make approaches in the January window.

As in the summer, the Blues are believed to value Gusto at £75million.

Malo Gusto told to find a new club

Reports in the last day have suggested both that the right-back has been told by Xabi Alonso to find a new club, and that he’s willing to do so in January.

But the suggestion of a two-horse race might not be the most accurate, with Liverpool links evident in recent months.

They were known to be keen on Gusto in the summer, when they loaned in Ronald Araujo, who’s been playing at right-back, and our friends at TEAMtalk suggest they could well come back in.

Alongside the Reds, there’s an inkling that Tottenham man retain an interest, while Atletico Madrid, AC Milan, Como and RB Leipzig are all sniffing around Gusto.

Chelsea are aware of growing interest in the right-back and their preference is to let him go in January, handing them a large windfall.

The money the Blues might receive from the sale of the unwanted defender would go towards players that Alonso actually wants in his side.

Whether any of the interested clubs is willing to pay the large sum it would require to prise Gusto away from Stamford Bridge remains to be seen.

United landed three midfielders for £150million in the summer, while other clubs spent far more money, and dropping half of that on one defender in January might prove unlikely, especially given Pochettino will have other areas he’ll want to improve.