The United States Soccer Federation is expected to consider the former Manchester City manager as a major candidate should Pochettino depart for Old Trafford. The possibility has emerged as Manchester United move closer to appointing the Argentine following their decision to part company with Michael Carrick.
According to The Athletic, sources familiar with the situation expect Guardiola to be among the leading names considered by US Soccer. The Spaniard has previously been in contact with officials from the federation and has expressed an interest in the potential of international management.
Guardiola left Manchester City at the end of the 2025-26 season after a highly successful decade in English football. He won six Premier League titles with City, having also enjoyed major success with Barcelona and Bayern Munich, including three Champions League triumphs across his managerial career.
The prospect of managing a national team has appealed to Guardiola for some time. Earlier this year, he came close to taking charge of Italy, with former Italian Football Federation technical director Paolo Maldini revealing how advanced those discussions had become.
“(Guardiola) is the coach who best embodies technical, attacking football. He had expressed the idea of wanting to coach a national team to some friends,” Maldini told Corriere della Sera.
“We went to meet him in Barcelona, we had lunch together, we talked for an entire day.
“He was very tempted. He came very close to accepting. He even started writing line-ups down on sheets of paper.”
That experience suggests Guardiola is open to the idea of international football, although there is no guarantee he would accept an approach from the United States.
US Soccer also explored the possibility of appointing him during its search in 2024, before eventually selecting Pochettino. Guardiola publicly wished the Argentine well following his appointment and spoke positively about the potential of the American national team.
“The USA is fascinating to try and build a project for many years and being able to get the national team to the next step. The potential with the USA is there for the amount of people and sports and so on,” he said at the time.
Guardiola also has previous experience of living in the United States. He spent time in New York after leaving Barcelona in 2012, and has maintained an interest in the country's football development.
Pochettino's possible departure would create an unexpected opening for US Soccer, with the federation needing to appoint a successor ahead of the next international cycle. The Argentine is currently preparing the United States for their Concacaf Nations League quarter-final against Haiti, while Manchester United work towards finalising his move to Old Trafford.
Guardiola would represent an ambitious appointment, but his willingness to return to management remains uncertain after leaving City. He has not confirmed any interest in taking the US job, and no formal approach has been announced.
For now, the federation's reported interest is conditional on Pochettino leaving. If that happens, Guardiola could become one of the most prominent candidates in the search for the next United States manager.