Man Utd's astonishing cost of failure since Sir Alex Ferguson revealed in startling figures

Numerous managers have tried to fill the shoes of Sir Alex Ferguson at Man Utd since his retirement in 2013 - and all have failed to replicate his true success despite being backed financially

Manchester United have splashed more than £86million trying to find their perfect manager ever since Sir Alex Ferguson's retirement 11 years ago.

Between 1986 and 2013, the 82-year-old Glaswegian brought a wealth of glory to Old Trafford, securing 13 Premier Leagues, five FA Cups, four League Cups, 10 Community Shields and two Champions Leagues – recruiting outstanding talents such as Cristiano Ronaldo and Ruud van Nistelrooy, while also nurturing young stars like David Beckham, Paul Scholes and Gary Neville to name a few.

Ferguson is arguably the greatest Premier League manager of all time, and his list of accolades and accomplishments speak for themselves – so it comes as little to no surprise that the Red Devils have had an incredibly tough time in replacing him when he decided to part ways with the club at the end of the 2012/13 campaign and enjoy a well-deserved retirement.

As many as 10 fresh faces have taken the reigns of United since Ferguson's exit (including caretaker and interim managers), as well as a whole host of respective backroom staff – but no one has managed to come close to what Fergie managed to achieve in the north west. And alarmingly, United have spent a staggering amount trying to find their next reincarnation of Ferguson – paying managers lucrative exit packages to strip them of their services after failing to impress in the dugout.

But how much have United splashed out on hiring and firing managers since Ferguson left the club? Here, Mirror Football breaks it down...

Redundancies and the Moyes era

While Ferguson retired from his role as United manager in 2013 and therefore didn't take home any extra money in sacking fees like many other managers mentioned below, it is reported that the board were forced to fork out in redundancy packages for backroom staff who worked under the legendary manager.

According to ESPN, Mike Phelan, Rene Meulensteen and Eric Steele were all removed as David Moyes decided to bring Steve Round, Jimmy Lumsden, Phil Neville and Chris Woods to work under him. Reports suggest that this move cost the board a whopping £2.4m.

Moyes' stint with United didn't last long, however. The former Everton manager was released by the club in April 2014 as he failed to secure Champions League football for the Red Devils. Ryan Giggs took over as caretaker manager for the remainder of the season, and United finished in 7th with a record of 19 wins, seven draws and 12 defeats.

The Scotsman and his staff were paid a reported total of £5.2m when they were shown the doors of Old Trafford – Moyes being eligible for a year's redundancy as opposed to the remainder of his six-year contract. He has since gone on to manage the likes of Real Sociedad, Sunderland and, most notably, West Ham United where he finally won silverware in the form of the UEFA Europa Conference League in 2023.

First non-British manager

Louis van Gaal was appointed as Moyes' successor in May 2014, and subsequently became the club's first manager from outside of the British Isles. Ryan Giggs stepped back into an assistant manager role, while Marcel Bout, Frans Hoek and Albert Stuivenberg also made up his backroom staff.

United could only clutch a fourth-place finish in Van Gaal's debut season, while the 2015/16 season saw the Red Devils falter to fifth. And despite winning the FA Cup with United following a 2-1 win over Crystal Palace in May the same year, LVG and his Dutch staff were sent packing from Old Trafford just two days later. Van Gaal and his coaches were paid £8.4m in compensation for their departure.

Special one gets special goodbye

Jose Mourinho had already proved that he had the skills to lead a side to glory in the Premier League when he was named as Van Gaal's successor in May 2016, having already won the division three times with Chelsea. With league titles in Portugal, Italy and Spain also on his resume, 'the Special One's' three-year appointment certainly seemed promising for the Old Trafford elite.

For a moment, it looked as though Mourinho was going to turn the tides at Old Trafford, when he scooped an EFL Cup, a Europa League title and a Community Shield in his maiden season with the club – however, a sixth-place in the league showed that work was still needed.

A second-place finish in the 2017/18 campaign looked brighter for Mourinho and United, but a lacklustre start the following year spelled the end for the Portuguese mastermind – sacked come December 18, 2018 and given a £19.6m pay packet to share with his staff.

Return of a legend

In the wake of Mourinho's departure, United put their faith in club legend Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to take the reins. The forward made waves with United between 1996 and 2007 as a player, scoring 126 goals and bagging 54 assists in 366 games, and fans were excited to see how he would fare from the dugout.

However, OGS only managed a mere runners-up medal in the 2020/21 Europa League over the course of three years as a manager – bagging sixth, third and second-place finishes before he was shown the door in November 2021. Michael Carrick was appointed caretaker manager, Ralf Rangnick took over in the interim and United's set of accounts for the year ending June 2022 showed that the club had spent £24.7m in exceptional costs – which include compensation for Solskjaer and Rangnick's exits.

Ten Hag's time expires

After winning three Eredivisie titles with Ajax, Erik ten Hag was named as the new United boss in April 2022 on a three-year deal. His first full season in charge saw him claim a third-place Premier League finish as well as an EFL Cup. However, the 2023/24 campaign proved far more challenging.

Ten Hag recorded a Premier League record-low eighth-place finish with the Red Devils in 2023/24, with an FA Cup win over Manchester City his only saving grace to help the club qualify for Europa League football in 2024/25. There were rumours that United were looking to replace the Dutchman over the summer, but instead offered him an extension until June 2026 as INEOS put faith in him.

However, Ten Hag soon found himself out of a job – a 2-1 defeat to West Ham last month proved to be the straw that broke the camel's back as United registered a lacklustre record of three wins, two draws and four losses from their opening nine games – with Van Nistelrooy taking the helm in the interim.

Ten Hag's departure is thought to have cost the club £10.4m in fees, while the board paid roughly £8.4m to trigger Ruben Amorim's release clause to bring him to Old Trafford from Sporting CP. To add insult to injury, it is also reported that the Red Devils waved goodbye to a number of executives this year, including Chartered Accountant Richard Arnold – burning another reported £5.7m hole in their finances – while welcoming new Sporting Director Dan Ashworth for an undisclosed fee.

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