Man Utd bill hits £70m as Erik ten Hag walks away with huge payout after sacking - The Mirror

Erik ten Hag has now been relieved of his duties at Manchester United, but his dismissal will not come cheap for the club as they hunt the Dutchman's permanent successor

Erik ten Hag's sacking has seen Manchester United's spending on sacking managers climb to a whopping £70million.

Ten Hag, 54, was shown the door by the Old Trafford bosses following the Red Devils' 2-1 defeat at West Ham United. He joins the growing list of permanent managers given the boot on the red side of Manchester in the past decade, following Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Jose Mourinho, Louis van Gaal and David Moyes.

It's believed that the ex-Ajax boss will pocket around £17.5m in compensation, just four months after the club activated a one-year extension on his contract. This sum is reportedly £7.5m more than what United would have had to fork out if they had let him go in the summer.

It's the second largest golden pay-out any United manager has received since Sir Alex Ferguson retired.

According to GOAL, Ten Hag will walk away with £17.5m in compensation. Only Mourinho's rumoured final pay-out of £19.6m in 2018 is larger than the final payment the Dutchman receives.

He avoided the sack when United's top brass convened for a meeting with Sir Jim Ratcliffe in London on October 8, reports the Express. At that point, the Red Devils had just drawn 3-3 with Porto in the Europa League and 0-0 with Aston Villa.

United came from 1-0 down to beat Brentford 2-1 in the Premier League, but saw any momentum be sapped when they drew 1-1 with Fenerbahce. However, it was Sunday's contentious defeat at the hands of West Ham that tipped the scales for the club's bosses.

Ex-United striker and Ten Hag's right-hand man Ruud van Nistelrooy is set to step up as the interim manager of the Red Devils while the search for a full-time replacement is underway. The club made no bones about the shake-up in a forthright statement on their official website.

The announcement read: "Erik ten Hag has left his role as Manchester United men's first-team manager. Erik was appointed in April 2022 and led the club to two domestic trophies, winning the Carabao Cup in 2023 and the FA Cup in 2024.

"We are grateful to Erik for everything he has done during his time with us and wish him well for the future. Ruud van Nistelrooy will take charge of the team as interim head coach, supported by the current coaching team, whilst a permanent head coach is recruited."

Ten Hag departs with United languishing in 14th place, seven points behind fourth-placed Aston Villa and a full 12 points adrift of league leaders Manchester City. Moreover, they're sitting uncomfortably at 21st in the Europa League rankings, having drawn all three group matches thus far.

Speculation is rife that former Barcelona boss Xavi could be the one to take the reins at Old Trafford.

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