Manchester United reveal how much sacking Jose Mourinho and his coaching staff cost them in financial results

United paid £19.6m to Mourinho and six of his coaching staff after the Portuguese was sacked last December, with Ed Woodward praising the impact of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer since he became interim manager

Manchester United have published their accounts for the last three months that reveals the club spent £19.6m to sack Jose Mourinho and his staff in December.

Mourinho was sacked and replaced on an interim basis by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, and with the Portuguese having a contract in place through to the summer of 2020, United had to shell out a hefty eight-figure fee to relieve him of his duties.

Listed as an "exceptional item", their latest accounts - which were revealed by exeutive vice-chairman Ed Woodward during a conference call on Thursday - a £19.6m fee related to sacking Mourinho and his backroom staff, which included senior goalkeeping coach Silvino Louro, opposition scout Ricardo Formosinho, fitness coaches Stefano Rapetti and Carlos Lalin and analyst Giovanni Cera. One other staff member left as part of the clearout.

“Exceptional items for the quarter were £19.6m, relating to compensation to the former manager and certain members of the coaching staff for loss of office,” the accounts revealed.

However, despite the pay-offs, United were still able to post a record revenue in Q2 of £208.6m, up from £177.4m, and the club expect healthy end-of-year figures of between £615m and £630m come the end of the fiscal year.

The decision to axe Mourinho has so far been fully justified as Solskjaer has turned around the club’s fortunes in the Premier League, winning 10 of their 11 matches since taking over and returning to the top four in the process. The Norwegian’s change of style and positive attitude has not only rekindled hopes of Champions League football next season, but it has brought the best out of players like Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial and Luke Shaw, who struggled for form and consistent selection under Mourinho.

The turnaround has evidently delighted Woodward, and along with his coaches Mike Phelan, Kieran McKenna, Michael Carrick and Emilio Alvarez – the latter retained from Mourinho’s time in charge – the executive vice-chairman took the time to praise their impact on United’s fortunes this season.

"The appointment of Ole and Mike as caretaker manager and assistant manager, working with Kieran, Michael and Emilio, has had a positive impact throughout the club. We are delighted with the improvement in the team’s performances since December and we look forward to a strong finish to the 18/19 season."

But the feel-good factor at Old Trafford came juddering to a halt on Tuesday in the 2-0 defeat by Paris Saint-Germain that leaves United facing an almighty task to qualify for the quarter-finals of the Champions League, with goals from Presnel Kimpembe and Kylian Mbappe compounded by the red card received by Paul Pogba, which rules the midfielder out of the crucial return leg at the Parc des Princes next month.