Man United shoot themselves in the foot as staggering cost of sacking Erik ten Hag is revealed

The amount of money Manchester United would have to fork out to permanently part ways with under-fire manager Erik ten Hag has been revealed.

Intense pressure is mounting on Ten Hag following United’s latest major setback, a devastating 0-3 loss at the hands of Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.

United were dominated from start to finish by Ange Postecoglou’s men, who ruthlessly put them to the sword in front of the Old Trafford support.

It could have been much worse for the Red Devils who could have suffered a more humiliating scoreline were it not for some big saves from Andre Onana.

Ten Hag’s men are currently 12th in the Premier League standings, having lost three of their first six matches of the season. This comes in the campaign after Ten Hag delivered the worst-ever top-flight finish in the club’s history.

After the final whistle vs. Spurs, the Dutchman was asked about his future. He defiantly insisted that he was not concerned about his position as he is on the same page as Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his new-look football department.

However, it has since emerged that the 54-year-old is not entirely safe and he could be fired if results take a turn for the worst in upcoming matches vs. Porto in the Europa League and Aston Villa in the Premier League.

It’s understood that if Ten Hag is sacked, there is a chance that assistant coach Ruud van Nistelrooy will temporarily fill in while the business of searching for a permanent replacement commences.

According to GOAL’s Richard Martin, it will cost United a whooping £17.5million to get rid of Ten Hag.

This amount comes on the back of Ten Hag’s one-year extension to his deal that was agreed in the summer.

Martin notes that if United had sacked Ten Hag at the end of the 2023/24 term, it would have cost them £10m, which is £7.5m less than the current sum. This is around half the money saved from making 250 staff members redundant when INEOS assumed control of key aspects of the club’s operations earlier this year.

In the summer, Ten Hag’s future was up in the air after he led the Reds to an eighth-placed finish. A shock FA Cup final triumph over Manchester City handed him a lifeline and after a lengthy end-of-season review, INEOS and Ratcliffe eventually decided to give the manager more time to try and make things better.

It appears that in hindsight, this decision was a poor one and as a result, it will cost the club a heftier fee to let him go.

With this in mind, it’s hardly a surprise that the United hierarchy appears to be reluctant to pull the trigger on sacking Ten Hag.

Feature image Stu Forster via Getty Images

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