Khaleej Times

Mourinho firing cost Manchester United $25M

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london — The firing of Jose Mourinho cost Manchester United £19.6 million ($25 million) in payoffs. The club already sees it as money well spent.

The compensati­on for dismissing Mourinho and six members of his coaching staff was disclosed among “exceptiona­l items” in the latest set of financial results published on Thursday by United that showed record revenue.

Highlighti­ng the difficulty replacing Alex Ferguson, United has now spent £33.2 million dismissing the three managers hired since he retired in 2013 after 26 trophylade­n years in charge.

When Mourinho was fired in December, United was sixth in the 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 Alex 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 (20)18-19 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 successive 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 immediate successor before being fired along with his coaches at a cost of £5.2 million in 2014.

Despite Louis van Gaal winning the first major trophy of the postFergus­on 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 £8.4 million. —

We are delighted with the improvemen­t in the team’s performanc­es since December

Ed Westwood

 ?? Reuters ?? Mourinho was fired in December after dismal performanc­e.—
Reuters Mourinho was fired in December after dismal performanc­e.—

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