In the summer of 2025, Manchester United revealed the signing of Slovenian striker, Benjamin Sesko, from RB Leipzig. The fee was for an initial £66 million, which could climb to £77 million based on various add ons. Sesko was identified as the number nine that could finally fire Manchester United to glory… and ease the pressure on his beleaguered new boss, Ruben Amorim.
However, things don’t always go to plan. Despite showing glimpses of his true form, Sesko has struggled with injuries and is yet to win over the Old Trafford faithful. And Amorim, of course, finally paid for his team’s inconsistencies when he was sacked in January.
Ironically, the dismissal of the Portuguese took Manchester United’s spending on compensation payments to their sacked managers to £65 million since 2014 alone – just £1 million less than Sesko’s transfer fee. The irony is probably lost on everyone, but if the Red Devils had stuck with David Moyes instead of giving him the boot more than a decade ago, they could have signed another expensive talent to join the Slovenian in attack.
A Costly Business
It was always going to be difficult to replace Sir Alex Ferguson, who turned Manchester United into a powerhouse of English football for two decades or so. The Scot brought pretty much every major trophy to the Old Trafford cabinet: Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup, League Cup, European Super Cup and even an older format of the FIFA Club World Cup.
All told, Ferguson saw his players enjoy 37 different trophy hoists – he’ll be an all-time great from now until only cockroaches are left roaming the earth. How do you replace that? Well, with great difficulty… as United have found out to their metaphorical and literal cost.
David Moyes
Moyes, was contextually at least, seen as the ideal replacement. A somewhat dour Scot that had done plenty with little at Everton, Moyes was cut from the same cloth as Ferguson, who himself had performed minor miracles at Aberdeen prior to heading south to Manchester.
Of course, he was on a hiding to nothing as the immediate successor to a club icon. Appointed in May 2013, Moyes would survive just one season in charge – winning 27 of his 51 games in all competitions as United finished in a disappointing seventh place in the Premier League.
But it wasn’t all doom and gloom for the former Everton man. Moyes put pen to paper on a six-year contract when joining United – sacked after just a season, his compensation payment (and that of his backroom team) was a combined, and rather handsome, £4.9 million.
Louis van Gaal
Next through the revolving door was Louis van Gaal, who had a similarly authoritative style to Ferguson – as well as a well-stocked trophy cabinet. But the Dutchman was only able to oversee a marginal improvement on Moyes’ work, finishing fourth in his first season in charge and fifth in his second.
A victory in the 2016 FA Cup final was not enough to secure him a stay of execution in the dugout – but his sacking did earn Van Gaal a handy compensation payout of £8.4 million to share amongst his bank account and those of his assistant coaches.
José Mourinho
José Mourinho is a manager that never leaves anything to chance – could his autocratic style see United return to their Ferguson-era glory days? The Portuguese certainly did the best work of all the pretenders to Ferguson’s throne, amassing a win percentage of 58.33% – bettered only, as far as permanent managers are concerned, by the Scot in the club’s long history.
Mourinho brought three trophies to United in two-and-a-half years, including the League Cup and the Europa League, but his is a star that tends to burn out quite spectacularly – after falling out with the club’s board, players, the media and pretty much anyone else he could have an argument with, the Special One was gone in December 2018. The cost? A not-to-shabby pay off of £19.6 million – the largest in Manchester United’s history.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer replaced Mourinho, first as caretaker and then full-time boss. Appointed in March 2019 and sacked in November 2021, the Norwegian trousered £9.1 million to settle up his contract.
Ralf Rangnick
A failed five-month stint with Ralf Rangnick as interim boss still cost the club around £9 million, although the true figure could have been much higher – United’s accounts around this time are a bit sketchy on the actual sum paid out.
Next to be pushed through the revolving door at Old Trafford was Erik ten Hag, whose inglorious reign – FA Cup and League Cup wins aside – cost United a significant sum in wages and £10.4 million when they sacked the Dutchman in 2024.
Finally, United will pay around £10 million to Amorim, as well as further costs to his backroom staff. The Portuguese still had 18 months to run on his contract – originally penned in November 2024 – when he was dismissed.
How Much Does It Cost to Sack a Football Manager?
A football manager’s compensation payout when given the boot is typically based on three main factors. These all stem from the contract that they penned, which stipulates their Salary, bonuses and the length of tenure to be served.
The compensation calculation is a combination of these factors: the amount of salary owed for the rest of the contract term, as well as a consideration of the outstanding bonuses that the manager may or may not have won had they not been dismissed.
It should also be said that these astronomical sums are also designed to gently persuade sacked managers not to launch unfair dismissal lawsuits against their former employer – if those were successful, they might be paid out an even greater sum.
The largest compensation payment made to a manager was the £26.2 million pocketed by Antonio Conte when he was sacked by Chelsea in 2018. The amount, paid to the Italian and his extensive backroom team, was a combination of lost salaries and ‘legal costs’.
