Manchester United are currently finalising a deal to appoint Mauricio Pochettino as their new manager to replace Michael Carrick, GIVEMESPORT understands.

The Red Devils have had a disappointing season so far, sitting 18th in the Premier League with just one win from their opening ten games, which has led the club to make the decision that a change is necessary.

Pochettino, who is currently in charge of the USMNT, has a £7.4m exit clause in his contract with US Soccer, and GMS understands that it will cost a further £1.5m for him to bring his backroom staff with him too. But a deal is now close to being finalised, with Carrick expected to be relieved of his duties in the coming days.

Pochettino has previously had spells at three different Premier League clubs, having shone during a spell with Southampton, before taking over at Tottenham Hotspur and leading them to a second-place finish in the top flight, while he also reached the EFL Cup final and Champions League final with the north London side.

A brief spell with Paris Saint-Germain followed, where he won the Ligue 1 title, before he returned to London to coach Chelsea. At Stamford Bridge, he led the team to a fourth-place finish while he also reached the EFL Cup final again, losing in extra-time to Liverpool.

But despite a relatively successful season with the Blues, Pochettino was sacked after just one season with the club.

Credit: Getty Images

Pochettino's time at Chelsea is best remembered for the form and performances of Cole Palmer under his management, and Man Utd fans will be hopeful that he can get similar performances out of a number of stars at Old Trafford.

The poor campaign this season has been well noted, and many have blamed the poor running stats of Carrick's team. United have ranked second bottom of the entire division for distance covered and distance covered per 90 minutes, behind only Liverpool.

During pre-season, new midfield signing Youri Tielemans revealed that there wasn't a lot of running being done in pre-season, which attracted a lot of attention.

"That's [ball work] what it's been like mostly," he said on Rio Ferdinand Presents.

"Not loads of running?" Ferdinand queried.

"No, no," Tielemans replied.

"When you come back from the World Cup, you don't do loads of running. Just chill."

But speaking after Pochettino's exit at Chelsea, midfield general Moises Caicedo commented on the tactics he would employ, and noted that they relied heavily on running and fitness to be successful.

"At Brighton, it was all tactical, just with the ball; tactical, tactical, tactical. And at Chelsea, it was run, run, run and it was very difficult for me. With Chelsea, I always ran a bit more, and with Brighton we almost always had the ball, with Chelsea it was a different football, and we had to run more."

Pochettino's first game in charge of Man Utd, barring any unexpected changes, is expected to be against old rivals Liverpool at Anfield on November 22nd.