FAYETTEVILLE, Ga. — According to Mauricio Pochettino, Sunday night was the first time he got an indication that the U.S. Soccer Federation may want to extend his contract. 

During dinner at an Upper West Side restaurant, the U.S. soccer manager was asked by federation execs whether he and his staff were open to continuing for another four years as the USMNT’s manager. 

“And we said, of course we are open,” Pochettino said Thursday, speaking with a select group of reporters after the team finished training. 

The question of the manager’s future was shoved into the spotlight Thursday with multiple reports of Pochettino’s interest in the vacant position at AC Milan. A report from The Athletic said he met last week with representatives from the Italian club, which sacked Massimiliano Allegri over the weekend after failing to qualify for the Champions League. 

Pochettino gave what appeared to be a soft denial that he had met with anyone from Milan. But left open — or tacitly acknowledged, depending how you read his comments — that his representatives had done so. 

“My representatives, maybe. Possible,” he said, “because they need to do their job, my representatives. Do you think all the people that represent different coaches have no conversations with different clubs for different reasons?” 

Asked again whether he had a meeting, having already denied doing so, he seemed to give a qualifier. 

“No,” he said. “Because, when and with who? 

“If I met someone, what happened? What is going to change? If I met someone, what happened? My contract finishes in July. It’s like if the federation wanted to talk with me about the future, it’s similar, no?” 

The reality that Pochettino repeatedly acknowledged throughout the course of the conversation is that, with his contract set to expire after the World Cup, it would be borderline negligent for his representation not to take calls or meetings about his future. 

He repeatedly stated, though, that should not be taken to mean he isn’t fully committed to the U.S. team through the World Cup, or open to being a part of its future. In fact, he said, when he’s been approached about taking jobs that would require him to leave the USMNT during his contract, “I didn’t listen.” 

“People that question my commitment [are] people that want to create some problem,” Pochettino said. “Because when I signed nearly two years ago, our contract ran until [we] finish the World Cup. And why, then, they criticize me or criticize the federation? Because when you are in a job that finished the tournament, the World Cup, it’s normal because that is the moment, different clubs, they are thinking [about] the future of the club, and if you have good, quality coaches, in some point, and they finish [their] contract, it’s normal to pay attention of the clubs that maybe are interested.” 

This is all, of course, a basic reality of the business. Players who were asked about it said nothing about the situation bothers them — they have to think about their futures too, and haven’t seen anything to indicate Pochettino isn’t focused on the World Cup. 

Still, it’s hard to argue it didn’t become a distraction Thursday, when the conversation around the national team was dominated by questions about the coach’s future. 

U.S. Soccer CEO J.T. Batson, who held an impromptu availability while the team was training, repeatedly lauded Pochettino’s transparency and commitment. 

“They’ve been transparent about club interest for the last couple years,” Batson said of Pochettino and his team, including his longtime assistant coach, Jesus Perez. “There’s been a longer list of outreach than what has even been reported. They’ve been great about that.” 

As for the question of a contract extension, neither he nor Pochettino made fully clear what they want to see happen, though both were open to the possibility. 

“We’ve had a number of very long discussions around what the next four years could look like,” Batson said. “They’re excited and we’re excited, but we gotta focus on this summer. And we’re doing that.” 

As far as resources go, Batson said the federation expects to be able to make the same sort of monetary commitment that landed Pochettino to begin with, citing both sponsors and private donors. He added that there are monthly meetings to go over succession plans, not just for Pochettino, but also for U.S. women’s coach Emma Hayes and other positions, including his own. 

The ultimate question of whether those plans will go into action doesn’t yet have an answer. Perhaps it depends on how the next seven weeks go. 

“Until last Sunday, we didn’t have an idea about if the federation [was happy] with us or not happy, wanted us for the future or [things] like this,” Pochettino said. “Do you think that is not normal, that, in a very short time, we go out of contract, our representatives are not listening to other people that are calling because it’s public that we finish the contract after the World Cup? It’s a normal thing.”