Former Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola is one of US Soccer's top targets to replace Manchester United-bound Mauricio Pochettino.

The Red Devils are set to sack Michael Carrick imminently and have chosen the current United States men's national team boss as their preferred replacement. A verbal agreement has reportedly already been reached with Pochettino.

The 54-year-old was initially due to leave his post at US Soccer after the World Cup in the summer. However, the high-profile offers Pochettino expected were not forthcoming, so he ended up signing a contract extension in August.

It was always clear, though, that he wasn't in it for the long haul. A release clause in the region of $10 million was included in the deal to allow the Argentine to return to Europe if the right project emerges.

Whether Man Utd is actually the right project is certainly debatable, but it is the one Pochettino has chosen. The timing, of course, is awkward, with the US facing Haiti twice in the next seven days. The current expectation is that he will still be available for those fixtures.

US Soccer wants Guardiola - again

The Athletic now reports that US Soccer is planning to go big again after landing the Pochettino coup in 2024. Unsurprisingly, legendary manager Pep Guardiola will be a top target to replace his former Premier League rival.

This is not in any way unexpected, considering that the Spaniard is a long-standing target for the federation. Following the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, Guardiola was one of the names US Soccer considered when it was mulling over the future of Gregg Berhalter.

At the time, sources told The Athletic that the interest in the 55-year-old dated back "years." It is plausible that Guardiola has been a dream target for the USMNT for the best part of a decade.

Before Pochettino was appointed in September 2024, US Soccer contacted Guardiola to sound out whether he would be willing to take the job. At that point, however, he was still in the midst of his era-defining spell at Man City and had just won the Premier League for a sixth time.

Is the time now ripe to secure the services of the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich manager? Considering that he is currently out of a job after leaving Man City in the summer, this is certainly the best shot US Soccer may get at appointing Guardiola.

After this break, the USMNT doesn't play competitive games again until March, although there is an annual winter camp for mostly domestic-based players in December. This lack of action until the spring would allow Pep to continue spending time with his family.

He turned down the Italy job in July because he did not want to return to management so soon after leaving Man City. He needed a break after a decade in the Premier League and wanted to get his private life in order after ending his 30-year relationship with his ex-wife in late 2024.

By the next international break, he will have had almost nine months to recharge his batteries and might be tempted to return to coaching. If he is to start managing again, he is expected to move into the international game.

USMNT or NYCFC?

However, Guardiola is also surely a name under consideration by City Football Group-owned New York City FC, who just fired Pascal Jansen after a hugely disappointing season. That could also be an attractive job.

Guardiola remains an ambassador for CFG following his departure from Man City and was in attendance for September's Hudson River Derby against Red Bull New York, where he acted as the pre-match hype man.

Next summer, NYCFC will move into their state-of-the-art Etihad Park in Queens and will surely want to drum up local interest in the team by making high-profile signings - and a high-profile managerial appointment - ahead of the big occasion.

Guardiola has a strong connection with the Big Apple. After his iconic spell at Barcelona, he spent most of his year-long sabbatical in New York City and greatly enjoyed his time there because it allowed him to live in relative anonymity.

Obviously, that doesn't mean that he would take the NYCFC job over the USMNT. The latter greatly appeals to him, as he openly admitted in 2024 when he spoke about US Soccer's interest and the appointment of Pochettino.

"The USA is fascinating to try to build a project for many years and being able to get the national team to the next step," he said. "The potential with the USA is there for the amount of people and sports and so on."

Guardiola is also believed to have a good relationship with former US Soccer president Sunil Gulati, who apparently first raised the prospect of managing the USMNT with him years ago.

At this stage, though, it is simply too early to know whether Guardiola is willing to take the USMNT job in 2027. US Soccer will likely only formally start the recruitment process after this break and will also have numerous other names under consideration.

Given that it seemed inevitable that Pochettino would leave his contract early, succession planning has been in full swing for some time. On Monday, FootballTransfers pointed out that there will also be plenty of domestic options for the USMNT job.

BJ Callaghan, who took interim charge of the USMNT before Pochettino's arrival, is surely up there as one of the prime targets to replace the Argentine after setting a new points record with Nashville SC in the 2026 MLS regular season.