Getting fired usually costs the employee. In football management, it costs the club. Manchester United had been sitting on a £16.7 million ($22.4 million) bill for Ruben Amorim’s severance package after sacking him in January 2026, with payments set to run through summer 2027.
That bill just got a lot smaller. Amorim’s appointment as head coach of AC Milan on June 16, 2026, triggers a reduction or complete cessation of those financial obligations, giving United a meaningful fiscal reprieve during a period where the club has been chasing operating profit growth.
The math behind the managerial merry-go-round
When United dismissed Amorim on January 5, 2026, his contract still had roughly 18 months left on it. The club provisioned £16.7 million to cover compensation for Amorim and his entire backroom staff, a sum that would have dripped out of United’s accounts through the summer of 2027.
Standard practice in these situations is that once a manager finds new employment, the former club’s obligation shrinks or disappears entirely. AC Milan just picked up the tab.
