Man United spent £14.5m on sackings including Erik ten Hag and Dan Ashworth

Costly decisions by Ineos 

Dan Ashworth and Erik ten Hag (PA)

Manchester United paid a total of £14.5million to sack manager Erik ten Hag, sporting director Dan Ashworth and other members of football staff, the club’s latest accounts show.

This has been a painful season for the Premier League club, with the 20-time league champions languishing a lowly 15th in the standings following Sunday’s 1-0 loss at Tottenham.

Ruben Amorim has failed to spark an upturn as successor to Ten Hag, who was sacked in October and just 116 days after United triggered a clause to extend his contract until 2026.

Ruben Amorim succeeded Ten Hag at Old Trafford (John Walton/PA)

That costly decision by Ineos was compounded by the swift exit of Ashworth, who arrived from Newcastle on July 1 after prolonged negotiations only to leave on December 8.

The financial impact of those decisions was confirmed in United’s results for the quarter ending December 31 under ‘exceptional items’.

“Exceptional items for the quarter were a cost of £14.5 million,” the corporate release from the club said.

“This relates to costs associated with the departure of former men’s first team manager Erik ten Hag and various members of football staff.”

United confirmed in their first quarter results that the pay off to Ten Hag and his staff was £10.4m, indicating Ashworth’s exit cost £4.1m