Mauricio Pochettino is closing in on the Manchester United job after GIVEMESPORT revealed that the two parties have reached an agreement in principle on personal terms.

Now, Man United must pay the Argentine's $10m release clause to prise him away from the USMNT, with an extra fee needed on top to take his coaching staff to Old Trafford too.

While all of this is going on, the Red Devils' hierarchy are still yet to sack Michael Carrick, but the 45-year-old is expected to be dismissed following talks between Omar Berrada, Jason Wilcox and Sir Jim Ratcliffe in Monaco this week.

Berrada and Wilcox have recommended the appointment of Pochettino, who has been out of club football for two-and-a-half years after being sacked by Chelsea in the summer of 2024.

Should Pochettino's appointment be confirmed, there is no doubt that the 54-year-old is taking on a big job at Old Trafford, given how poor the club has been this term.

Expectations were high that the team would continue to build under the leadership of Carrick after they were so impressive in the first half of 2026, but instead they are in the Premier League relegation zone having won just one of their 10 matches this season.

Elsewhere, they were also knocked out of the EFL Cup after losing a 2-0 lead to be beaten 3-2 by Brighton and Hove Albion at the Theatre of Dreams, while they have also lost two of their four fixtures in the Champions League too.

United produced fantastic comebacks in their previous two games against AS Roma and Aston Villa, but it wasn't enough to convince Wilcox or Berrada that Carrick should remain in the dugout for the trip to Liverpool after the international break.

United will hope that Pochettino is at Anfield, and work will immediately begin on how he is going to turn their fortunes around, with seven weeks to go until the January transfer window opens.

Pochettino had great success with the likes of Harry Kane at Tottenham previously, and he actually has his own version of the England captain waiting for him at Old Trafford, and it's not Benjamin Sesko.

Bruno Fernandes is United's Most Influential Player

Kane was Pochettino's talisman during his time in charge at Spurs, with the England captain scoring more than 30 goals in a season on three occasions under the Argentine's leadership.

Kane has made no secret of the fact that the 54-year-old has had a big influence on his career, which has led to him winning the Ballon d'Or award in recent weeks.

Pochettino may not have someone on Kane's level when it comes strikers waiting for him at Old Trafford, but he does have Bruno Fernandes.

The Portugal international's decline this season has been one of the biggest mysteries of United's drop-off in recent months, but there is no doubting the quality and influence he has on this team, just like Kane had at Tottenham.

United scored 69 Premier League goals last season, and Fernandes either scored or assisted 30 of those, also registering the Premier League record for most assists in a single season.

The 32-year-old has been a shadow of the player he was last term this time around, but he still has six goals and four assists in 14 appearances.

All of those goals and assists have come in four of those 14 appearances, with the Red Devils failing to win any of the 10 games where he has provided zero.

If Pochettino is going to get United back up the standings in the coming weeks, he needs to build his team around Fernandes and get the Portuguese star back to his best.

If he does, he has proven before that he can be as influential as Kane was in a Tottenham shirt for him.