Mauricio Pochettino is widely expected to replace Michael Carrick as Manchester United head coach and it appears the club already have a transfer plan

Manchester United will look to hand Mauricio Pochettino a new defender, should they decide he is their man. The club are in the process of extracting Pochettino from his contract as the manager of the United States of America.

Current United head coach Michael Carrick is still fulfilling his usual duties, taking charge of training at Carrington, but he is expected to be dismissed in the near future. Minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe, director of football Jason Wilcox and CEO Omar Berrada are meeting in Monaco to discuss the club's next move.

It's expected they will recommend the club part ways with Carrick, with United currently 18th in the Premier League. They may also discuss transfer plans, as three Premier League stars are reportedly being eyed.

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The Mail has claimed Brentford defender Nathan Collins, left-footed Fulham centre-back Calvin Bassey and Everton ace Jarrad Branthwaite are high on United's list.

The aforementioned trio are on United's radar, with recruitment chiefs ready to take action after witnessing the club's defence be exposed this season. During Carrick's tenure, United have let in 15 goals across their last five fixtures.

The club opted against reinforcing their backline as they wanted to prioritise their midfield, a choice which has returned to bite them. United have also suffered numerous injury problems, with Luke Shaw, Matthijs de Ligt, Lisandro Martinez and Noussair Mazraoui all missing significant playing time over the last year.

Only bottom-placed Crystal Palace and Ipswich Town have conceded more than the 19 Premier League goals United have let in this season.

United had initially planned to rebuild their defence next summer, having opted to strengthen their midfield with the acquisitions of Youri Tielemans, Andrey Santos and Carlos Baleba. It now appears they are keen to accelerate that overhaul in January.

This would provide an immediate boost for Pochettino, who will need to inject fresh energy into a United side that has claimed just three wins from their last 15 matches across all competitions. United had been linked with Eddie Howe, Julian Nagelsmann and Antonio Conte following the Reds' 3-0 home defeat to Bournemouth.

With the United board yet to settle on a successor at that point, Carrick was handed three matches to prove his worth.

He suffered a 2-0 defeat away at Chelsea, before securing a 3-2 home win over Roma in the Champions League and a 4-4 home draw with Aston Villa - both results requiring United to overturn two-goal deficits, with the latter demanding they do so on two separate occasions.

Despite those spirited comebacks, it appears Carrick's efforts were insufficient to secure his position, with former Chelsea and Tottenham manager Pochettino now widely expected to take charge for next weekend's fixture at Liverpool.