Mauricio Pochettino sat down with AC Milan representatives last week — while still employed as the United States men's national team head coach — to discuss taking over at one of European football's most storied clubs. That's not a background conversation. That's a serious flirtation.
The meeting happened ahead of the USMNT's World Cup preparation camp in Georgia, according to The Athletic. Pochettino's USSF contract expires after this summer's home World Cup, which gives both parties the timing they need. Milan, for their part, are shopping urgently after cutting ties with Massimiliano Allegri, sporting director Igli Tare, CEO Giorgio Furlani, and technical director Geoffrey Moncada in one sweeping clear-out on Monday.
Why Milan are in this position
Two consecutive seasons without Champions League football. A fifth-place Serie A finish this term. The club's American ownership has decided a root-and-branch rebuild is the only answer — not just a new manager, but a new project. That ambition is presumably what made a call to Pochettino's camp worth making.
He's not the only name in the frame. Andoni Iraola, freshly released from Bournemouth, is reportedly the leading candidate. Pochettino is more of a wildcard — a coach who has built clubs (Tottenham's Champions League final run in 2019 is the headline), but whose recent record at PSG and Chelsea was underwhelming enough to raise questions about whether he's the right fit for a rebuild rather than a reset.
Still, the pull is obvious. Pochettino has the profile Milan want to signal intent, and he'd arrive with a ready-made connection to two players already at the club: Christian Pulisic, his USMNT winger, and Yunus Musah, who spent this season on loan at Atalanta. Those aren't meaningless relationships when you're trying to build a dressing room fast.
What this means for the USMNT
In March, Pochettino said he was open to staying with the U.S. beyond the World Cup. "We don't have a contract for the future but why not if we are happy and the federation is happy?" That quote looks different now. Milan coming in changes the calculus entirely — and USSF will have noticed.
The U.S. are hosting the World Cup this summer. A manager visibly entertaining an exit before the tournament ends is a storyline they absolutely do not need. If Pochettino does take the Milan job, it will raise hard questions about whether his focus was truly on the job in front of him during the final stretch.
For anyone with money on Milan's next manager, Iraola remains the frontrunner — but Pochettino being in the conversation at all tells you how seriously the club is casting its net.
