Manchester United are set to appoint a new manager towards the end of the season to restart the project that started and fell apart under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
Several managers are being linked with the job, including Luis Enrique and Erik ten Hag, but another manager that is being linked is former Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino.
There has been a 'will they won't they' situation between Pochettino and United since he was at the London club, but it seems like this season is the closest he's ever really been to taking the hot-seat at Old Trafford.
But there is one major obstacle, Pochettino is currently employed by Paris Saint-Germain and is contracted to the French club until 2023, meaning United would have to buy out his contract to acquire the Argentinian manager's services.
If Pochettino was sacked, a genuine possibility, United would be free to approach the manager with no problems.
Therefore some at the club may be happy that Pochettino's PSG side went out of the French Cup on Monday night after losing on penalties to Nice. This means that the Argentinian will not be retaining the first piece of silverware that he had won in his managerial career this season.
You can point to Lionel Messi having a poor game and fielding a weakened squad. Still, PSG has high standards and expectations and with Zinedine Zidane rumoured to be waiting in the wings, if PSG does not compete in or even win the Champions League, then Pochettino could be shown the door.
But the warning signs shouldn't just be blaring for United to say that Pochettino is available. There is also consideration of what legacy the manager will have at PSG and when he eventually leaves, making him the best candidate for the United job.
PSG are easily the best team in France by a considerable margin, so when you oversee them going out in the cup and coming second in a title race that they should be comfortably winning, it does not reflect best on you as a manager.
And Pochettino is struggling to make the best use of the big names he has at his disposal while at PSG, such as Messi, who has only scored one league goal, which doesn't bode well for a United squad with Cristiano Ronaldo in it.
And with Ronaldo wanting to win as many trophies as he can before he leaves United a second time, will he be happy with a manager whose trophy record is as sparse as Pochettino's?
There are still several months until summer, so no decision has to be made yet, but this is a big decision, and United need to make sure they get it 100% right if they are to get back on top any time soon.
Would you like Mauricio Pochettino to be the next Manchester United manager? Follow our United On My Mind writer Casey Evans on Twitter and get involved in the discussion in the comment section below.
