The cost of failure at Man United keeps rising as compensation payouts mount

MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Manchester United has spent well in excess of $100 million to pay off failed coaches and soccer executives during more than a decade of onfield decline.

And that was before Michael Carrick became the seventh manager to be fired since club great Alex Ferguson retired in 2013. United is closing in on a deal to hire U.S. men's national team coach Mauricio Pochettino .

It is not yet known how much compensation Carrick will be due following his dismissal less than six months into a two-year contract. What is known is that failure at United can be a very lucrative business.

It cost 19.6 million pounds ($26 million) to relieve Jose Mourinho and his staff of their duties 11 months after he signed a long-term deal in 2018.

It was 10.4 million pounds ($13.76m) for Erik ten Hag and his staff three months after he signed a contract extension.

Ruben Amorim? United paid 11 million pounds ($14.55 million) to trigger his early release from Sporting Lisbon in November 2024 and 8.2 million pounds ($10.85 million) to pay off him and his staff 14 months later.

All this from a club that is swimming in debt and has implemented brutal cost-cutting measures to try to arrest its financial problems.

Last year minority owner Jim Ratcliffe warned that United was enduring unsustainable losses and under his watch the club has laid off hundreds of staff and sparked fan protests after hiking up ticket prices.

Despite that the British billionaire has overseen a slew of costly errors since buying an initial 25% stake in the club in 2024 and assuming control of its soccer operations.

It was under Ratcliffe that Ten Hag was given a new contract and then promptly fired. Amorim was his first coaching hire and that ended swiftly and at great expense.

Then there was Dan Ashworth's appointment as director of football. United paid a reported 2-3 million pounds ($2.65-4 million) to prise him away from Premier League rival Newcastle, while Ashworth also spent five months on gardening leave during negotiations.

He was out of the door less than six months later, with United's accounts revealing a cost of 4.1 million pounds ($5.4 million) for the whole episode, including compensation hire him.

That's a total of 33.7 million pounds ($44.56 million) under Ratcliffe's watch alone. And it could have been worse, with Amorim's appointment by AC Milan this year reducing the maximum compensation United was due to pay from a potential maximum figure of 16.7 million ($22.1 million).

However, such lavish spending on failed projects pre-dates Ratcliffe's investment.

United paid out 5.2 million pounds ($6.88 million) when David Moyes was fired 11 months into a six-year contract in 2014.

Louis van Gaal was fired two days after winning the FA Cup in 2016, prompting compensation of 8.4 million pounds ($11.11 million).

James Robson is at https://x.com/jamesalanrobson

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