FAYETTEVILLE, Ga. — U.S. Soccer CEO JT Batson said that Mauricio Pochettino has been “very focused” on both the 2026 World Cup and the “long-term success” of U.S. Soccer, even after meeting with representatives from AC Milan last week.The Athletic reported Thursday that Pochettino met with the Italian club before joining up with the U.S. men’s national team for their World Cup camp, which opened Wednesday at the U.S. Soccer Federation’s new national training center.Batson, speaking to reporters while the USMNT trained over his shoulder — and while Pochettino prowled on the side of a drill, shouting at players, “Go go go go go!” — indicated that he was not bothered by the meeting with Milan. He said that Pochettino had been “transparent about club interest” since he first agreed to take charge of the USMNT in 2024, and that “there’s been a longer list of outreach than what has even been reported.”Batson also indicated that extending Pochettino’s contract beyond this summer’s World Cup remained a possibility.“Mauricio and the entire team has been incredibly transparent the entire process,” Batson said. “Even when we first met a couple summers ago, there were lots of other people interested in having Mauricio and [his staff] join. He had standing offers from other places to come, and he wanted to be here. He’s a big believer in what we’re doing at U.S. Soccer, he’s a big believer in soccer in America and he’s a big believer in this men’s team.“When you have top-class talent, whether it’s salespeople, whether it’s marketing people, or whether it’s coaches, other organizations want them. Throughout this, Mauricio and team have been incredibly transparent, they’ve been great partners, and we’re, of course, excited about the summer.”Speaking prior to training, two USMNT players also said they did not care about Pochettino’s meeting with Milan.“It doesn’t bother us,” winger Tim Weah said. “I’m someone that lives in present day, and right now he’s here and we’re working with him. It’s an amazing feeling having such a prestigious coach coaching us.“Whatever he decides to do after is what the coach decides, and we’re here to support him. He’s here to support us, and we’re just living in the present and making sure that we do our job.”Midfielder Tyler Adams added: “Our focus has to be here on the World Cup. As [with] any manager or player — like, there’s [players] in contract situations right now that have to figure out what to do, either before the World Cup, after the World Cup. It’s gonna be the same deal with coaches.