Amorim's AC Milan move saves Manchester United up to £15.9m in compensation

Ruben Amorim’s move to AC Milan is set to hand Manchester United a significant financial windfall, with the club’s £15.9m compensation liability to their former head coach expected to fall sharply now that he has taken a new role in Serie A.

Amorim, 41, was appointed Milan’s head coach last week on a three-year contract, replacing Massimiliano Allegri, who was dismissed after the Italian club missed out on Champions League qualification. Reports in Italy suggest Amorim has also waived the remaining year’s salary United owed him following his sacking.

United had been covering not only Amorim’s own departure package but also the costs associated with his backroom staff, which included four coaches. With Amorim now employed elsewhere, the club’s ongoing compensation payments are understood to drop drastically, freeing up funds that could be redirected toward summer transfer activity.

Amorim was appointed United head coach in November 2024, arriving from Sporting CP with a strong reputation, but his tenure at Old Trafford proved disastrous. He recorded the worst win ratio, the worst goals-conceded-per-game ratio, and the lowest clean-sheet ratio of any manager in the club’s history. United terminated his contract in January, initially naming Michael Carrick as interim replacement before confirming the 44-year-old permanently after an impressive run of results to close the season.

The circumstances of Amorim’s exit were acrimonious. Tensions with the Old Trafford board had been escalating, and following a match against Leeds, Amorim publicly called out the club’s decision-makers in a press conference, telling them to focus on their own responsibilities. He was sacked within 24 hours of those remarks.

Despite the bitter ending, the two clubs will come face to face this summer. United are scheduled to conclude their pre-season tour with a friendly against Milan at the Tarczynski Arena in Wroclaw, Poland — meaning Amorim will return to face his former employers sooner than either party might have anticipated.

Milan had also considered Andoni Iraola for the role before he took the Liverpool job, with former Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner also in contention before Amorim was confirmed as the appointment.