Manchester United have spent more than £100million hiring and firing managers since Sir Alex Ferguson retired. Thirteen years, countless rebuilds and another dismissal later, they are no closer to finding his successor, and now sit in the relegation zone. 

Michael Carrick is the latest casualty, sacked just six months after securing the permanent job following an impressive interim spell that delivered third place and Champions League qualification.

Now United sit 18th in the Premier League, with eight points from 10 matches, one league victory and their worst start to a top-flight campaign in 40 years. The turnaround has been brutal. So has the club's managerial turnover.

Six months and out

Carrick's permanent reign is the shortest of any United manager since Ferguson's retirement in 2013.

David Moyes lasted 10 months, Ruben Amorim 14 and Louis van Gaal 22. Erik ten Hag survived 29 months, Jose Mourinho 31 and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer 32. Seven permanent managers have now tried to restore United's dominance. None has delivered a Premier League title.

Carrick's dismissal follows a disastrous sequence featuring a 3-0 home defeat to Bournemouth, a 2-0 loss at Chelsea and Sunday's extraordinary 4-4 draw with Aston Villa. United have won just once in 10 league fixtures this season, leaving the hierarchy facing another expensive reset.

The £100million managerial problem

The financial consequences extend far beyond salaries. United paid approximately £1.7m to release Ten Hag from Ajax in 2022, followed by around £8.3m to secure Amorim from Sporting CP in 2024.

Mauricio Pochettino, now expected to replace Carrick, could cost another £7m to £7.5m in compensation to the United States Soccer Federation. That figure excludes any additional payments required to bring his coaching staff to Old Trafford.

Across managerial appointments, dismissals and compensation packages since Ferguson's departure, estimates now exceed £100m. United have also spent more than £30m compensating Ten Hag and Amorim following their departures.

Will Pochettino break the cycle?

Pochettino arrives as the leading candidate with extensive Premier League experience at Southampton, Tottenham and Chelsea.

He guided Spurs to the 2019 Champions League final and won Ligue 1 with Paris Saint-Germain. Yet United's predicament extends beyond the dugout.

Three managers have now departed since Sir Jim Ratcliffe assumed control of football operations in 2024. Pochettino could become the latest expensive appointment in a rebuilding project that repeatedly returns to square one.

For fans, the question is no longer simply who should manage the club. It is why the answer keeps changing and why progress has halted.