After fumbling through reply on Milan talks, Mauricio Pochettino reiterates USMNT commitment

FAYETTEVILLE, Ga. — U.S. men’s national team coach Mauricio Pochettino first denied that he had met with AC Milan, then opened the door to the possibility that a meeting took place. After a back-and-forth and a targeted line of questioning in which he wasn’t initially clear about whether a meeting had or had not taken place, he reiterated his commitment to the U.S. through the end of the World Cup.

“People that question my commitment are people that want to create some problems,” Pochettino said.

The Athletic reported earlier Thursday that Pochettino met with representatives from Italian club AC Milan over its vacant head coach position last week ahead of the start of World Cup camp. Pochettino’s contract with U.S. Soccer is set to expire after this summer’s World Cup.

In a roundtable with a group of reporters covering the team’s pre-World Cup training camp on Thursday afternoon, Pochettino said twice that he did not meet with Milan. When asked if his representatives met with the Italian club, Pochettino said: “Maybe. Possible. Because they need to do their job, my representatives.”

“You think all the people that represent different coaches have no conversations with different clubs? For different reasons,” Pochettino said.

Later, asked again if he met personally with Milan executives, he said, “When and with who? If I met someone, what happens? What is going to change? My contract finishes in July. If the federation wants to talk with me about the future, it’s similar. It’s a similar thing.”

Pochettino said he met Sunday in New York City with U.S. Soccer chief executive JT Batson over dinner at a restaurant, Jean-Georges, and was asked if he would be interested in engaging about a contract extension.

“We said of course we are open,” Pochettino said.

“We have full respect to the USA, we have full respect to the federation,” he continued. “We are so grateful to the federation (for) what they are giving (us), with the possibility to be involved in a dream. Because as a coaching staff it’s difficult to have the possibility to be involved in a World Cup. For me, we are so grateful to USA and the federation and we have an amazing relationship.”

Pochettino said that, until that dinner, they had no indication of whether the federation “was happy with us, were not happy,” even as the contract neared expiration. But he reiterated that while his future remains up in the air once his contract expires, he remains fully focused on the job at hand this summer.

“If I don’t have commitment, what am I doing here? If I have the possibility to (go to) another club?” he asked, rhetorically. “It is disrespectful (from my perspective). Because I am here. I am here. I am not going to go away tomorrow. If another club came and said, ‘We want you, but you have to start tomorrow.’ I say, ‘Sorry, I committed with the national team.’ Whether it’s the best club in the world. They can give me all the promises. I am not going to change.”

Pochettino emphasized that it is “normal” in global soccer for teams to approach coaches who are near the end of their contract. In this case, the Argentine manager’s deal with U.S. Soccer expires after the U.S. team’s campaign in the summer tournament ends.

The coach spoke in depth during the roundtable about his desire to impact culture around the sport, both within the federation and U.S. men’s program, but also throughout the country. He also detailed thoughts about how the team would play at the World Cup and repeated his stated belief that this team is capable of making a deep run.

The focus, though, centered around the approach from Milan — where U.S. star Christian Pulisic remains under contract through next summer; he did not speak to reporters on Thursday — so close to the start of the World Cup. And Pochettino challenged any notion that it impacted his focus on the tournament or his commitment to the players and federation.

Mauricio Pochettino speaks to Christian Pulisic during an October 2025 friendly. The manager has held talks with Pulisic’s club, AC Milan (Scott Coleman / Imagn Images)

“I am going to tell you, we committed with the U.S. men’s national team until we finish the World Cup,” Pochettino said. “In these two years, we have so many approaches and we always say, ‘We finish contract in July (2026). After the World Cup.’ Of course, we have approaches. Of course, I met some people. Different clubs. But that is a conversation because we have friends in football, we have friends everywhere. And my representative works for me to try to find the best possibility for the future. That is normal. All my colleagues, there are a lot of examples of people under contract in different clubs (that) met (with) another (club).”

Pochettino said fielding approaches from interested clubs is something he has experienced as a player and coach throughout his career, and pushed back on the idea that it would impact his performance or approach.

“That is a thing that is not affecting me,” he said. “We have experience (living) this type of thing when I was at Espanyol, when I was in Tottenham, when I was in Paris Saint-Germain, when I was in Chelsea. Even in clubs like this, with a contract, I have offers, have approaches, I have comments in the media. Some were true, others were not true. But that doesn’t affect our commitment.

“Our commitment is the World Cup, and we are focused on the World Cup. The (other things) can happen in the future, we don’t know. But I told you in March, I can extend the contract here if they want me, and we agree. Or I can’t. We can finish the World Cup and go to another place, or stay at home because maybe we don’t receive any offers.

“I think it’s not going to create a problem. If people talk that it can affect our focus and our commitment, (they’re) not football people. It’s people that like to talk, but no one pays attention to that. They have no clue about what we are doing.”

U.S. Soccer CEO JT Batson answers questions about Mauricio Pochettino at USMNT World Cup training (Ronald Blum / AP Photo)

Batson spoke with reporters earlier Thursday and said Pochettino was “100 percent” focused on the World Cup.

“Mauricio and the entire team has been incredibly transparent the entire process,” Batson said. “Even when we first met a couple summers ago, there were lots of other people interested in having Mauricio and [his staff] join. He had standing offers from other places to come, and he wanted to be here. He’s a big believer in what we’re doing at U.S. Soccer, he’s a big believer in soccer in America and he’s a big believer in this men’s team.

“When you have top-class talent, whether it’s salespeople, whether it’s marketing people, or whether it’s coaches, other organizations want them. Throughout this, Mauricio and team have been incredibly transparent, they’ve been great partners, and we’re, of course, excited about the summer.”