With one victory in their first 10 Premier League matches, Manchester United have made their worst start to a top-flight campaign since the 1986-87 season. They are 18th in the table, one point above bottom club Crystal Palace. United directors will meet in Monaco on Wednesday to discuss Michael Carrick's future as his 10-month spell as head coach comes under major scrutiny.
If the 45-year-old former player departs, it would mean an eighth permanent boss for the Red Devils since Sir Alex Ferguson retired 13 years ago. That would be as many managerial changes as they have made across the previous 68 years dating back to Sir Matt Busby's appointment in 1945. BBC Sport takes a look at the leading candidates who could replace Carrick.
Major trophies won: 1 Ligue 1, 1 French Cup Premier League record: P294, W150; Win percentage: 51; Points per game ratio (PPG): 1.77 Did you know: Pochettino averaged 1.89 points per game during his spell at Tottenham, the best ratio of any Spurs manager to have taken charge of 25 or more Premier League games. United's long-standing interest in the Argentine, 54, dates back a decade. At Spurs, he moulded their best team in a generation, but ultimately came up short of winning a trophy, losing both the Champions League and League Cup finals, and posted second and third-placed finishes.
Silverware did come at Paris St-Germain with a league title, but a spell at Chelsea proved tougher with a League Cup final defeat by Liverpool in 2024. Having led the USA to the last 16 of the World Cup on home soil he signed a new contract taking him up to the 2030 tournament. Pochettino has an exciting group of young players to work with for the national team - led by Manchester City-bound 17-year-old Cavan Sullivan - but he has always made it clear he has unfinished business in the Premier League.
A reported buyout clause in Pochettino's contract is worth $10million (£7.44m), while it is also understood to contain clauses that would allow him to leave for specific high-profile jobs. Carrick's Man Utd future to be decided at Wednesday meeting What Howe could bring to Man Utd - and what are the challenges? Did you know: Only Hansi Flick (88.9%) has a better win percentage by a Bayern Munich manager in the Champions League than Nagelsmann's 83.3%.
Nagelsmann first impressed with his work at Hoffenheim, where he became the youngest head coach in Bundesliga history aged 28, leading them from relegation struggles to the Champions League. He followed that by taking RB Leipzig to a Champions League semi-final in 2020 and Bayern Munich understandably came calling. But despite winning the Bundesliga title in his first season he reportedly fell out with key players and did not survive a full second season.
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