Michael Carrick becomes latest casualty at Manchester United (AP Photo)

Manchester United FC’s roughly £60 million ($80.7 million) bill for dismissing unwanted managers and their staff since last winning the Premier League is set to rise again, following the sacking of Michael Carrick as head coach. Carrick, who was only appointed on a permanent basis earlier this year, lost his job on Thursday after presiding over Manchester United’s worst-ever start to a Premier League season. The final straw in his short reign was Sunday’s 4-4 home draw with Aston Villa FC, which left Manchester United mired in the Premier League’s relegation zone with just eight points from a possible 30.

Manchester United is widely reported to be lining up USA men’s national team head coach Mauricio Pochettino to replace Carrick. Hiring him would mean paying a £7 million release clause, after Pochettino recently signed a new four-year contract with the American national team.

The dismissal of Carrick, 45, comes less than a year after his predecessor Ruben Amorim was ousted and continues a familiar and expensive recent pattern for one of England’s most famous, and historically successful, clubs.

Analysis of accounts and filings shows Manchester United earmarked around £60 million in compensation for sacked managers and their coaching teams since last winning the Premier League under Sir Alex Ferguson in 2013. Amorim’s exit cost the club £8.2 million, less than half the £19.6 million paid to fellow Portuguese coach Jose Mourinho and his staff after he was dismissed in 2018.

A representative for Manchester United declined to comment.

Manchester United has cycled through managers since the departure of Ferguson in an attempt to remain at the top of English football. But none of those installed in the job have been able to replicate the achievements of the legendary and decorated coach. Others to have tried including David Moyes, Louis van Gaal, Ole Gunnar Solskjær and Erik ten Hag. Bills for sacking these managers ranged from around £4.9 million to more than £10 million.

Carrick, a celebrated former player at the club, enjoyed a strong start to his time as Manchester United manager, steering it to third in the Premier League last season and securing qualification for the lucrative UEFA Champions League. That form evaporated and the club from the northwest of England has won just three competitive games this season. To compound things, Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes last month appeared to criticize Carrick’s tactics in an interview after a 4-1 defeat to Italian club Como.

To be sure, Manchester United has lifted trophies in the post-Ferguson era, including the FA Cup and UEFA Europa League. But a failure to challenge for the Premier League and Champions League despite a massive outlay on playing talent during the period has seen hostility among the club’s supporters toward its owners intensify.

Manchester United is majority owned by the US Glazer family, which acquired the club in a debt-fueled buyout in 2005. In late 2023, British businessman Sir Jim Ratcliffe struck a deal to buy 25% of Manchester United. Ratcliffe, the billionaire founder of chemicals giant Ineos Group Holdings SA, has since upped his holding to around 29%.