Destiny brought Mauricio Pochettino to Man United – but one huge question remains

On Sunday evening, Mauricio Pochettino got the call he had been waiting for.

He and long-time assistant Jesus Perez had frequently asked about Manchester United over the last decade. They would often contact friends in the game who were connected to Old Trafford, looking to find out what was happening, whether there could be an opening.

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Pochettino came very close to taking one of those openings on at least three occasions: 2018, 2021 and 2024. Now, elements might finally have aligned.

It is a call that others at Old Trafford have long waited for, too. Back when they had a much publicised dinner in 2016, Sir Alex Ferguson essentially told Pochettino he should be the United manager. The Argentine was enthralled at that meeting by stories from one of the game’s great glory eras, and a sense of magic he had felt just standing in Old Trafford had been deepened.

Pochettino had been especially taken by Ferguson’s account of rebuilding United from the 1980s, initially drawing comparisons with what he was doing at Tottenham Hotspur. Now, he’s set to take on that exact same job, if one that has become so much bigger than in 2016. It is arguably even bigger than in 1986.

Pochettino, however, is fired by the idea of being the man to finally fix United. It has become one of the great managerial quests. The United hierarchy have ultimately gone for him because of that personality, and his standing. They don’t want a coach who hasn’t worked at this level. They want someone ready. Both the Glazers and Sir Jim Ratcliffe can sense that, since the two sides of the United ownership have known Pochettino for years.

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If this is an appointment that always felt destined, though, that does raise one big question. Is this the right moment for it? Is it like Jose Mourinho, in that it came too late? Is it typical of modern United in that sense? Is it the same old “magical thinking” of hoping a famous name saves them, when the game has changed and the actual problems are now so structural?

Pochettino probably should have gone to United in 2016 or 2018, when he was at a peak in terms of being one of the most exciting coaches in football. The club did consider a move in the summer of 2016, but sources say an exit clause was allowed to expire. How different things could have been.

Old Trafford insiders are now talking about the value of “a name”, but the hierarchy did pass on Pochettino in 2024, when they initially considered sacking Erik ten Hag before ultimately decided to stick with the Dutchman. His interview wasn’t seen as convincing as that of Thomas Tuchel or Roberto De Zerbi. Those who know him also say he is closer to being “a manager” now, in terms of a wider outlook, rather than the on-the-grass coach that so drove Spurs.

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The very fact United are negotiating to pry him from the United States national team, without wishing to be disrespectful, also illustrates how his stock has recently dropped. Some close to Pochettino would nevertheless put that down to necessary choices at certain moments. Taking charge of the hosts of the biggest World Cup ever, that had so much pomp around it, was too enticing. Before that, he probably should have pushed to go to United or Real Madrid in 2018 but he was convinced he could do something special with Spurs. He’d put too much into it.

And that does point to one of the other great twists of fate in modern football, where Pochettino’s profile could be completely different. His Tottenham team were genuinely one of the best in Europe over 2016-18, and one of the great Premier League teams. To achieve 86 points in 2016-17, on what was then only the sixth highest wage bill in English football, was genuine alchemy. It was immense overperformance, fostered by a side that could just overrun you.

We also now know that the wage bill of the eventual champions for that season, Chelsea, had in part come from signings that had been secured by payments against the rules. The punishment from that guilty verdict still looks weak. There is a strong argument that Chelsea should have been stripped of the 2015 and 2017 titles. Pochettino himself said as much in a wide-ranging interview with The Independent and other media in September: “I’ve said that, that we should win one title, one Premier League. We should have been awarded it… for sure, we deserve to be champions for that year.”

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Had that justice been done, Pochettino would not just be a “name” who created an exciting Spurs once. He would be an English champion, and one responsible for one of the most historic titles given the much wealthier competition. A great institution would have won just their third title, and first in 56 years.

Both he and Spurs could have had their futures transformed, as well as their place in history. It would have been a modern equivalent of what Ferguson himself did with Aberdeen.

Now, he wants to follow Ferguson in a different way. This is the job he has been waiting for.

A certain apathy towards the US job was displayed in that September interview when he spoke out how his contract didn’t necessarily mean he’d stay the full term.

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For all of that, and how their World Cup campaign ended in the chaos of Donald Trump‘s disruptive interference in the Falorin Balogun case, there were very impressive spells when the US really looked like a classic Pochettino team. The way they ripped into Paraguay was reminiscent of Spurs 2016-18, right up to some of the flourishes. And that was in a much more limited and restricted environment than a club team.

This is the other thing about just taking the job, too. Regardless of United’s current problems, and perceptions of where Pochettino is in his career, he is energised by this. He has that bite. As one figure who knows him well says, “he has got the IP, he has got the brand, he has got the experience”.

Having already worked for Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain, he’s been at big clubs with demanding owners. He has the mettle for that. And he now looks set to have the big job he’s always wanted.