Manchester United have revealed it cost them £19.6 million ($25.1m) to sack Jose Mourinho and his staff in December after two-and-a-half years at the club.
Mourinho was fired following a run of disappointing results, culminating in a 3-1 loss at Liverpool which left United 11 points adrift of the Premier League’s top four positions.
The Portuguese was replaced by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who has overseen a dramatic improvement with 10 wins being achieved in 12 matches in charge to ensure United now sit in fourth place as a result.
And with the release of the club’s second-quarter financial report, they have stated that the release of Mourinho, along with coaches Silvino Louro, Carlos Lalin and Stefano Rapetti, scout Ricardo Formosinho, and analyst Giovanni Cerra, led to a near-£20m bill.
“Exceptional items for the quarter were £19.6 million, relating to compensation to the former manager and certain members of the coaching staff for loss of office,” said the report.
That £19.6m figure takes into account pay-offs for all coaches, as well as related National Insurance payments, with around £15m accounting for Mourinho’s personal pay-off.
The former Chelsea and Real Madrid boss had been handed a new contract extension by the club as recently as January 2018, taking his annual salary to around £12m with an expiry of June 2020, subject to a club-option 12-month extension.
But United’s awful pre-Christmas form saw the club bring his tenure to an end in favour of a management structure including former United striker Solskjaer and Sir Alex Ferguson’s one-time assistant Mike Phelan.
Of the new coaching team, executive vice-chair Ed Woodward added: “The appointment of Ole and Mike as caretaker manager and assistant manager, working with Kieran [McKenna], Michael [Carrick] and Emilio [Alvarez], has had a positive impact throughout the club.
“We are delighted with the improvement in the team’s performances since December and we look forward to a strong finish to the 18/19 season.”
While the outlay for Mourinho’s sacking proved costly, United recorded record revenues in the final three months of 2018, with total incomings standing at £208.6m ($267.1m) and broadcasting revenue alone raking in £103.7m ($132.8m).
The report stated: “Broadcasting revenue for the quarter was £103.7 million, an increase of £28.5 million, or 37.9%, over the prior year quarter, primarily due to the new UEFA Champions League broadcasting rights agreement and playing one additional UEFA Champions League game.”