Mauricio Pochettino in talks with Milan over head coach’s role as US open World Cup camp

US men’s national team head coach Mauricio Pochettino has had talks with Serie A side Milan about taking over as manager next season, the Guardian can confirm. Italian journalist Nicolò Schira was first to report news of Pochettino’s talks with Milan . Pochettino’s status was the hot talking point as the US opened training camp at the US Soccer Federation’s new national training center in Fayetteville, Georgia, on Wednesday, but most have expected that his run at the World Cup will be his last games with the team before a return to European club football. Speaking to reporters, US Soccer CEO JT Batson said Pochettino and the organization are focused on the World Cup, declining to confirm specifically that Pochettino and Milan had held talks. However, he added that Pochettino and his staff “have been transparent about club interest for the last couple of years”, adding that “there’s been a longer list of outreach than what has even been reported.” Batson also declined to say whether US Soccer was engaged in extension discussions with Pochettino, and similarly deferred comment when asked if another big-name manager such as Jürgen Klopp or Pep Guardiola could be next, saying the organization is “focused on this summer”. Asked when the federation intends to begin succession planning, Batson said that the organization has monthly succession planning meetings for all of the national teams and high-level executive roles. …