Firing Mourinho cost United £19.6mil – but it’s no big deal.

Mourinho firing cost United £19.6mil – but it’s money well spent

LONDON: The firing of Jose Mourinho cost Manchester United £19.6mil (RM103mil) in payoffs. The club already see it as money well spent.

The compensation for dismissing Mourinho and his coaches was disclosed on Thursday by United among “exceptional items” in the latest set of financial results, which showed record revenue.

According to a person with knowledge of the finances, Mourinho received about £15mil (RM79mil) to pay off the remaining one year on his contract. The rest went to the six coaches. The person spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity because the details of the club’s salaries were confidential.

Highlighting the difficulty of replacing Sir Alex Ferguson, United have now spent £33.2mil (RM174mil) dismissing the three managers hired since he retired in 2013 after 26 trophy-laden years in charge.

When Mourinho was fired in December, United were sixth in the English Premier League.

Former striker Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was brought back to Old Trafford as temporary manager and he has lifted the team back into fourth –a Champions League qualification spot.

The appointment of Solskjaer and assistant manager Mike Phelan, who worked under Ferguson at United, “has had a positive impact throughout the club,” vice-chairman Ed Woodward said.

“We are delighted with the improvement in the team’s performances since December and we look forward to a strong finish to the 20182019 season.”

Solskjaer only has a contract until the end of the season and is on a loan agreement with Norwegian club Molde but hopes to stay.

Woodward told investors on a conference call that Solskjaer “revived” the team by opening his reign with a club-record eight straight wins and won the Premier League’s manager of the month award.

Solskjaer is the first United manager to collect the accolade since Ferguson retired after winning 13 Premier League titles and the Champions League twice.

David Moyes lasted 10 months as Ferguson’s successor before being fired along with his coaches at a cost of £5.2mil (RM27mil) in 2014.

Despite Louis van Gaal winning the first major trophy of the post-Ferguson era – the 2016 FA Cup – he was fired after two years primarily for failing to qualify for the lucrative Champions League.

The payoffs to Van Gaal and his coaches reached £8.4mil (RM44mil).

Mourinho, who replaced Van Gaal, had a contract through next season, but the risk of missing out on the top four led to his dismissal.

United easily will be able to cover the compensation costs on the strength of their commercial operation.

For the second quarter of the financial year – the three months to Dec 31 – United reported revenue rising 18% to a record £208.6mil (RM1.1bil).

The club are forecasting annual revenue to be between £615mil (RM3.2bil) and £630mil (RM3.3bil).

Because of investment in the squad, salaries rose 12% year-onyear to £77.9mil (RM408mil) for the quarter.