Since Mauricio Pochettino arrived in English football with Southampton in January 2013, Manchester United have cycled through a dozen interim, caretaker or permanent managers, from Sir Alex Ferguson 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.
Former Tottenham and Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino is one such manager and, according to the man himself, this was not just gossip column speculation.
Pochettino: ‘Manchester United have always shown interest in me, but the ideal scenario to manage there has never quite materialised’
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 revealed to FourFourTwo in an interview earlier this year. “But the ideal scenario to manage there has never quite materialised.
“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.”
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.”
Pochettino is widely expected to replace Carrick in the dugout at Old Trafford ahead of Man United's derby with Liverpool later this month.
The Argentine coach is reported to have a $10 million break clause in his USMNT contract, which was extended over the summer following the United States' World Cup campaign.
Man United chiefs are meeting in Monaco this week to discuss the club's next steps.