Manchester United have confirmed that sacking Ruben Amorim could end up costing the club almost £16m.
The Portuguese was sacked on January 5 after publicly attacking the club’s top brass following a 1-1 draw with Leeds United the previous day.
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The figure was revealed in a filing to the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday, a day after the club confirmed a profit of £32.6m in its second quarter results to December 31, 2025.
Listed as “events occurring after the reporting period”, United confirmed that £6.3m of amortization charges – related to the cost of bringing Amorim from Sporting Lisbon to Old Trafford in November 2024 – had been written off and a “provision of £15.9m” would be made, the maximum amount United are liable to pay to Amorim and his coaching staff.
It was not made clear in the submission what would trigger the maximum payment, but sources familiar with the situation said it was related to future employment.
Amorim has yet to speak publicly about his time at United and sources close to the 41-year-old say that will not change immediately.
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The payment completed an expensive management experiment that ultimately failed.
Manchester United confirmed in a similar filing on November 27, 2024, that they paid Sporting Lisbon £11 million to hire Amorim to replace Erik ten Hag, whose exit cost was £10.4 million.
This means comprehensive changes around Amorim could cost £37.3m.
His 14 months at Old Trafford was the shortest tenure of a permanent manager at Old Trafford since David Moyes was sacked after just eight months in the job in 2014.
Amorim won 25 of 63 games in charge and finished 15th in the Premier League, United’s worst performance since relegation in 1973-74.
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They also lost the Europa League final, meaning they missed out on this season’s European competition for the second time since 1990.
Amorim were humiliated in the second round of the Carabao Cup this season by League Two side Grimsby, who beat them on penalties.
United were sixth in the Premier League when he was sacked, having had a major clash with director of football Jason Wilcox just days before the Leeds game.
Although under-18s coach and former Manchester United midfielder Darren Fletcher was appointed interim manager for two games, Michael Carrick has remained in the role until the end of the season and won his fifth in six games when his side beat Everton on Monday.
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They are currently in fourth place and are expected to qualify for the Champions League.
Meanwhile, United also confirmed that they have increased the credit available in their drawdown arrangements by £50m to £400m, while paying off £75m, meaning they currently owe £215m.
In addition, the document states that “sponsorship services” worth £600,000 have been provided to Ineos Automotive Ltd., a branch of Ineos Group owned by Manchester United minority shareholder Sir Jim Ratcliffe.
