Manchester United are confronting a multi-million pound financial headache following the dismissal of manager Ruben Amorim, with a potential compensation bill of around £12 million now on the table. The club terminated the Portuguese head coach and his entire backroom staff on Monday, despite Amorim having 18 months remaining on his contract.
The Cost of a Trophy-Free Tenure
This hefty payout comes just over a year after United invested nearly £10 million to secure Amorim's services from Sporting CP in November 2024. When combined with his salary from his appointment until his sacking, the total cost of his tenure, which failed to deliver any silverware, could reportedly reach a staggering £30 million.
However, the situation is complicated by Amorim's own public declaration. In the emotional aftermath of United's defeat to Tottenham Hotspur in the Europa League final in Bilbao, Amorim made a bold statement. He said: "If the board and the fans feel I'm not the right guy, I will go in the next day without any conversation about compensation, but I will not quit."
A Complicated Compensation Claim
Football finance specialist Kieran Maguire highlighted this comment when discussing the compensation issue with the Manchester Evening News. "If they hold him to that, then could they avoid paying him?" he questioned.
Maguire noted the matter becomes more complex due to the simultaneous dismissal of Amorim's backroom team. This group included assistant manager Carlos Fernandes, first-team coaches Adelio Candido and Emanuel Ferro, goalkeeping coach Jorge Vital, and fitness coach Paulo Barreira.
"If they're going to sack all of his staff at the same time, then I think it becomes more complicated," Maguire explained. "[The club] might be able to hold him to his comment last May, but equally, he could hold the club to its comments from Jim Ratcliffe that they weren't going to sack him."
Ratcliffe had stated on The Business podcast in October that Amorim needed three years to demonstrate he was a great coach, seemingly offering a public vote of confidence in the manager's long-term future.
United's PSR Position Remains Strong
Despite the significant outlay on Amorim and summer signings, Maguire believes United are "fine from a financial point of view." He pointed to controlled wage expenditure, facilitated by recruiting players on high fees but not exorbitant wages, and loaning out high-earners like Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford.
Crucially, the club's Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR) position appears robust. "For the first time in a long time, they've managed to monetise the academy," Maguire said, referencing the sales of former academy players Scott McTominay, Mason Greenwood, and Alejandro Garnacho, which brought in nearly £100 million in pure profit.
"So all of that's pure profit, which means that they're good from a PSR point of view," he concluded, acknowledging a positive shift in the club's culture under the Ineos ownership.
As the search for a permanent replacement begins, United are likely to appoint a caretaker manager until the season ends. Discussions have been held with former managers Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Michael Carrick, with Solskjaer appearing the frontrunner to take temporary charge after Darren Fletcher oversees the immediate fixture against Burnley.
