The United States is expected to make Pep Guardiola a top target to replace Mauricio Pochettino if the Argentine leaves for Manchester United.

Guardiola, who left Manchester City this past summer, has been discussed internally as a candidate across multiple levels of the federation’s hiring process, according to The Athletic.

Should Pochettino leave — and The Athletic first revealed on Wednesday that he is United’s chosen candidate to replace current head coach Michael Carrick should a change be made — the sources, who spoke anonymously as they were not authorized to do so publicly, say U.S. Soccer would look to lure Guardiola into international management after historic stints at multiple clubs that included three Champions League triumphs, six Premier League trophies, three La Liga medals and three Bundesliga titles.

The pursuit would not be straightforward nor easy. Guardiola would be a leading choice for many of the biggest jobs in football but has shown little recent interest in an imminent return to management.

After Guardiola turned the Italy job down earlier this year, Italian football federation president Giovanni Malago told La Repubblica: “Pep was honest. He took a sabbatical, partly for family reasons, but if he’d done anything, he would have done it with us.”

Nonetheless, Guardiola has had dialogue with U.S. Soccer in the past, and has long been intrigued by the prospect of working in America.

Guardiola lived in New York City during a year-long sabbatical after he left Barcelona in 2012, where he enjoyed relative anonymity living in a luxury apartment off of Central Park with his family.