Revealed: The shocking amount Man Utd are set to pay to Ruben Amorim after his sacking

Amorim was appointed by United in November 2024, with a compensation package of £10m ($13m) being agreed with Sporting when bringing the highly-rated tactician to England. That figure has been revealed in UEFA’s club licensing benchmarking report.

European football’s governing body also state how the Red Devils are spending £15.9m on the removal of Amorim and five members of coaching staff from their dugout. That is the maximum amount that the 41-year-old and his backroom team could be paid, but is dependent on a number of factors - including whether he lands another job within a certain timeframe.

United still had £6.3m ($8m) left to pay Sporting when taking the decision to sever ties with Amorim, with those payments being staggered across several years. The Red Devils felt they were left with little choice but to take a financial hit on another failed experiment in the coaching department.

It cost United £14.5m ($20m) to part with Amorim’s predecessor Erik ten Hag and former director of football Dan Ashworth, with neither convincing across their respective spells at Old Trafford. The total bill for two managers and a senior executive across a 15-month period could end up exceeding £30m ($40m).

Alongside their struggles to find an inspirational head coach, the Red Devils have also found value for money in the player recruitment market hard to come by. UEFA’s report has revealed that United have the highest net spend on transfers in world football over the course of the last five years.

That highlights the level of underachievement at Old Trafford between 2021 and 2025, with transfer deals costing United €794m (£696m/$937m). Chelsea (£656m/$883m) sit second on that list, with Arsenal (£587m/$790m) third. 

The report points out that: “The high level of spending compared with non-English clubs is evident, with the Premier League hosting seven of the top ten most expensive playing squads by transfer fee assembled at the end of the 2025 financial year.

“Chelsea FC’s playing squad at the end of the club’s 2025 financial year was officially the most expensive ever assembled, with a combined transfer cost of €1,746million, up €90million on the record set by the club last year.”

The commercial revenue generated by teams in England also dwarfs that of European and global rivals. The top team in the Premier League earned around nine times more than the middle club in the division, while in Spain that difference was 36 times as much.

The club licensing benchmarking document added: “The ability of competition organisers and governing bodies to reduce financial imbalance through solidarity payments and prize money distribution should therefore be viewed in this context.”

UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin claims the findings of the report are “encouraging” as they prove that European football is well on the road to recovery after taking some serious hits during the Covid-19 pandemic.

He said: “After a decade that included one of the toughest periods our sport and our society have faced, European football has come through in a strong position. Club revenues have grown steadily across the board, and top-division income is expected to pass €30billion in the 2025 financial year.”

United are among those hoping to put funds to good use over the coming months and years, as they seek to recapture former glories. Michael Carrick is currently calling the shots at Old Trafford on an interim basis - with a permanent successor to Amorim set to be appointed in the summer.

Carrick could come into contention for a full-time contract after overseeing a six-match unbeaten run and returning the Red Devils to the Premier League’s top four. Whoever is the at helm when the next transfer window opens, there is the promise of more big money being invested by United.