Since Mauricio Pochettino arrived in English football with Southampton in January 2013, Manchester United have cycled through 11 interim, caretaker or permanent managers, from Sir Alex Ferguson up to Michael Carrick.
Even more coaches have been linked with the post, with the same names seemingly popping up every time the Old Trafford dugout is vacant.
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Pochettino on Manchester United near-misses
Mauricio Pochettino on the Manchester United touchline
The Argentine was first linked with Manchester United a decade ago, speculation that gathered pace when he met Sir Alex Ferguson for lunch in 2016, during which time he was in charge of Spurs.
“United have always shown interest,” Pochettino reveals to FourFourTwo. “But the ideal scenario to manage there has never quite materialised.
Pochettino met with Ferguson in 2016 (Image credit: Getty Images)
“In any case, that lunch with Sir Alex had absolutely nothing to do with it,” he continues before explaining how the meeting came about.
“In his final season as a manager, we played a great game against United with Southampton. In the press conference after, he said we’d been the most complete opponent that United had faced.
“Through the secretary of the League Managers Association, he asked for my phone number so that we could have lunch. It was a meeting in London between colleagues – between a genius and an apprentice.
“My English wasn’t great, but Jesus Perez helped. When we asked for the bill, I wanted to take it, and so did he. We started arguing over who’d pay! “He said, “Stop Mauricio, I’m going to ask you a question. If you answer correctly, you pay. If not, I’ll pay.” I had no idea what he was going to ask.
“He said, “Name an Argentine player who scored in the 1930 World Cup final.” I replied, “Stabile.” He couldn’t believe it. The name came to me out of nowhere! In the end, I paid the bill.”
Manchester United ended up with Ten Hag rather than Pochettino (Image credit: Getty Images)
Speculation mounted again six years later in 2022, when the Red Devils would eventually go on to appoint Erik ten Hag.
“I was under contract at PSG,” Pochettino continues. “After our Champions League elimination against Real Madrid, we had no option but to make sure we secured the Ligue 1 title at least.
“United were in a hurry to announce their new manager before the end of that season because the situation had become unsustainable. I couldn’t negotiate, whereas Ajax gave Ten Hag the flexibility to do so.”