Man Utd face having to hire out-of-work manager to save funds as true cost of sacking Erik ten Hag emerges - with ex-Red Devils boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer sensationally among options

With Ten Hag only recently agreeing a contract extension until 2026 following an internal review by the club's new sporting hierarchy, The Telegraph has reported that sacking the Dutchman could now end up costing the club as much as £13.5 million ($16.9m) in compensation. The Manchester Evening News has estimated an even greater amount owed to the Dutchman: £17m ($22.1m).

Cost-cutting has been major theme of the INEOS era to date, with Sir Alex Ferguson losing his salary as an ambassador and around a quarter of the club's overall staff laid off. The knock-on effect of dismissing Ten Hag is that there are potentially no funds to land a replacement who isn't already a free agent. To that end, the MEN further notes that United "haven't ruled out a formal approach" for former boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, sacked himself in 2021 and yet to return to football. But the Norwegian could also be seen as a "backroom staff member" too. Exactly how the club view the situation is described as still "unclear".

Solskjaer has been careful about his choices since leaving Old Trafford three years ago and was recently reported to have turned down the offer of becoming the next Denmark national team manager. The reason given was that he was in talks with an un-named "major club".

Given how the last few weeks have unfolded, Manchester United may feel pretty sick about opting to stick with Ten Hag during the summer and not going after Thomas Tuchel, who starts his new job as England manager in January, following their talks with the German. Ruud van Nistelrooy will take over in the short-term, beginning when Leicester City visit Old Trafford in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday night. But there needs to be a clear plan about about what will happen in the weeks and months to follow.