After weeks of rumors, the United States men's national team has officially named Mauricio Pochettino as its new head coach, replacing Gregg Berhalter.

According to Jeff Carlisle of ESPN, Pochettino will earn $6 million per year on his new contract. This makes him the highest-paid coach in U.S. Soccer history and more than double the $2,291,136 Berhalter earned in 2022, including World Cup bonuses.

Current USWNT manager Emma Hayes—who reportedly played a major role in convincing both U.S. Soccer and Pochettino that they were a good match after becoming friends with the Argentine while both were at Chelsea, per Paul Tenorio and Adam Crafton of The Athletic—is currently making $1.6 million per year.

The delay in hiring the new head coach stemmed from Pochettino's contract with his former club, Chelsea, which ran through 2025.

That meant the United States Soccer Federation and the Premier League club had to negotiate over the terms of ending that contract. And with that situation apparently resolved, the USMNT has its new coach.

Expectations will be high for Pochettino's tenure. Alongside guiding Chelsea for the 2023-24 season, the former defender also had tenures with Espanyol, Southampton, Tottenham and Paris Saint-Germain, most famously guiding Spurs to the UEFA Champions League final in the 2018-19 season and PSG to a 2021-22 Ligue 1 title.

The USMNT, meanwhile, stagnated under the watch of Berhalter. While the Americans did advance past the group stage of the 2022 World Cup (after failing to qualify for the tournament at all in 2018), they didn't build on that result in a positive manner in the years to follow, most notably failing to advance past the group stage of the 2024 Copa América despite serving as hosts.

Berhalter's main accomplishments were reaching the knockout phase of the World Cup, winning the Concacaf Nations League in 2021 and 2024, the Concacaf Gold Cup in 2021 and posting a solid record against rivals Mexico (four wins).

But the U.S. struggled against top competition under Berhalter, and with the country serving as joint-hosts for the 2026 World Cup with Canada and Mexico, the expectation for Pochettino will be a marked improvement against stiffer competition.

The United States appears to be in the midst of a golden generation, with exciting young players like Christian Pulisic, Timothy Weah, Yunus Musah, Folarin Balogun and Gio Reyna among others, while promising youngsters like Cavan Sullivan are waiting in the wings.

The hope is that under Pochettino, the U.S. will take a step closer to becoming a global power in soccer. His signing is undoubtedly a high-profile addition and a statement of intent from the USSF.