Sources: Mauricio Pochettino a leading candidate to coach the USMNT

Mauricio Pochettino has emerged as a leading candidate to coach theU.S. men's national team, multiple sources with knowledge of the talks between the former Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain and Tottenham manager and U.S. Soccer confirmed to FOX Sports on Thursday.

The Athletic's Paul Tenorio was the first to report the news.

Pochettino, a 52-year-old Argentine who has also coached English Premier League side Southampton and Espanyol in Spain, is available after parting ways with Chelsea following the 2023-24 season. A U.S. Soccer Federation spokesperson declined to comment.

Pochettino's camp first met with U.S. Soccer sporting director Matt Crocker in Europe in mid-July, according to multiple sources. He was one of a number of high-profile coaches that the federation had initial conversations with either directly or through intermediaries. Others include former Liverpool boss Jürgen Klopp, ex-England coach Gareth Southgate, and current Hoffenheim manager Pellegrino Matarazzo. Patrick Vieira, who recently stepped down from his post with Strasbourg in France's Ligue 1, was also reportedly contacted. Vieira, who coached New York City FC from 2016-18, has since spoken to Atlanta United about their vacancy, per multiple sources.

On Sunday, after several German outlets reported that Matarazzo had been offered the job, a source told FOX Sports that the USSF was hoping to finalize a deal with the New Jersey native as early as this week. Subsequent reports indicated that Matarazzo had decided to stay with the Bundesliga club instead, which he later confirmed himself.

That apparently led Crocker back to Pochettino, who he briefly overlapped with while running Southampton's youth academy. Considered one of the best managers in the