With two bosses losing their jobs in the first week of 2026, FootballBlog.co.uk decided to investigate how much each of the Big Six clubs have spent on compensation after sacking managers during the Premier League era.
Chelsea and Enzo Maresca (pictured above) parted company on New Year’s Day before Manchester United sacked Ruben Amorim four days later.
It is understood that Man United’s compensation cost for sacking Amorim came to around £9.63 million. Meanwhile, Maresca’s pay-off from Chelsea is estimated to be worth around £5m.
Why do managers get compensation when they are sacked?
Football is an expensive business.
The combined spend by Premier League clubs in the summer window was a whopping £3.2 BILLION. Meanwhile, player wages are at an all-time high too, with Manchester City striker Erling Haaland said to be on £500,000 a week.
Many managers are also earning big bucks, which makes it all the more expensive for clubs who want to sack them. Generally speaking, if a manager is sacked for poor performance — rather than for gross misconduct — then they can be entitled to be compensated to the sum of what is left on their contract.
For example, if Man City wanted to get rid of Pep Guardiola 90 weeks before his £375,000-a-week contract was due to expire then it could cost the club £33.75m (£375,000 x 90).
To date, no Premier League sacking has ever resulted in a compensation package that high, but Chelsea’s 2018 dismissal of Antonio Conte came close.
Which Premier League manager sacking holds the record for most compensation paid?
According to official club accounts, Chelsea spent a grand total of £26.6m to sack Antonio Conte in 2018 — although that figure included legal fees, plus compensation paid to members of his backroom staff.
Chelsea’s published accounts for the year ending June 30, 2019 read: “Exceptional items in the current year of £26.6m relate to changes in respect of the men’s team management and coaching staff, together with associated legal costs.”
It is understood that Conte — who only had 12 months left on his contract when he was ordered to leave Stamford Bridge — received around £10m personally.
Which Premier League manager has cost the most in sacking compensation?
Jose Mourinho has cost significantly more than any other manager when it comes to compensation paid out after sackings.
Chelsea paid Mourinho and his staff £23.1m when he was first dismissed in 2007. After rehiring him, the Blues shelled out another £8.3m to sack Mourinho again in 2015.
Sacking Mourinho then cost Manchester United £19.6m in 2018, before Tottenham ended up paying £11m to get rid of him in 2021. Spurs had originally agreed to pay Mourinho closer to £20m but their final compensation amount was reduced after he took a job with Roma shortly after leaving north London.
In total, the four Premier League sackings of Mourinho cost Chelsea, Man United and Tottenham £62m.
Conte is the second most expensive Premier League manager based on sacking compensation, with his two dismissals costing Chelsea and Spurs a combined £30.6m.
Jose Mourinho has been sacked four times by Premier League clubs, costing his former employers £62m in compensation
The five most expensive managerial sackings in Premier League history were all made by Big Six clubs.
Jose Mourinho features twice on the list, which also includes Arsene Wenger, who was initially reported to have stepped down when he parted company with Arsenal at the end of the 2017/18 season.
However, Wenger had a year remaining on his contract when he left and he later said of his departure — which cost Arsenal an estimated £17.1m in compensation — that “the timing was not my decision”.
No 5 is Brendan Rodgers, who cost Liverpool £15.6m to sack in 2015.
A graph showing the five most expensive Premier League sackings of all time
Outside the top five, Tottenham’s 2021 dismissal of Nuno Espirito Santo comes in at No 7. He was sacked by Spurs just 124 days into a two-year contract and cost the club £14m in compensation.
No 6 is Thomas Tuchel’s £15m exit from Chelsea in 2022.
Which Premier League club has paid the most compensation to sacked managers?
After crunching the numbers, FootballBlog.co.uk can unsurprisingly reveal that Chelsea have spent significantly more than any other Big Six club on managerial sackings since the inception of the Premier League.
Chelsea were the first Premier League club to sack a manager when they dismissed Ian Porterfield in February 1993. The Blues have fired a further 17 managers since then, including Jose Mourinho twice.
During the Premier League era, there have been 18 managerial sackings by Big Six clubs that resulted in pay-offs of £10m or more. Eight of those were sackings made by Chelsea.
A graph showing how much compensation has been paid to sack Premier League managers by the Big Six clubs since 1992
A list of Chelsea’s three biggest managerial compensation payouts
Combined, the Premier League’s Big Six clubs have spent £394.48m on compensation after sacking 57 managers between them. That works out at an average of £6.92m per sacking since 1992.
Chelsea’s average is significantly higher than that, with their 18 sackings working out at £8.98m each, while Arsenal’s four dismissals have averaged £7.33m apiece.
Manchester United actually top the list on a per-sacking basis, spending an average of £10.34m each time they have fired a manager. Liverpool are next at £8.47m per dismissal.
At the other end of the scale, Tottenham’s 14 sackings have averaged £4.75m each — less than half of United’s — while Manchester City come in at just £2.69m per sacking.
How much the Premier League’s Big Six clubs have paid out in compensation due to sacking managers since 1992
| Club | Total Paid | Managers Sacked | Average Cost per Sacking |
|---|---|---|---|
| Manchester United | £62.03m | 6 | £10.34m |
| Chelsea | £161.6m | 18 | £8.98m |
| Liverpool | £50.8m | 6 | £8.47m |
| Arsenal | £29.3m | 4 | £7.33m |
| Tottenham Hotspur | £66.5m | 14 | £4.75m |
| Manchester City | £24.25m | 9 | £2.69m |
Spurs have spent the second most overall with £66.5m, but United are now less than £5m behind after sacking Amorim, who had the worst win-rate of any Red Devils manager since 1972.
United have currently paid out £62.03m. Their figure would be much higher were it not for the fact that Old Trafford had only one manager from the start of the Premier League in 1992 until Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013.
Although Ferguson was not sacked, his departure from United still cost the club around £2.4m in compensation for the members of his backroom staff who were moved on. However, those payments were ignored for the purpose of this study, as they were not the result of a manager sacking.
Liverpool have shelled out £50.8m through sacking managers — more than double the amount Man City have paid.
A graph showing how many managers have been sacked by Big Six clubs in the Premier League era, following Chelsea and Man United’s changes in January 2026
Meanwhile, of all the Big Six clubs, Arsenal have sacked the fewest managers during the Premier League era. The Gunners have parted company with four managers since 1992: George Graham, Bruce Rioch, Arsene Wenger and Unai Emery.
Including the “mutual agreement” to get Wenger out in 2018, Arsenal have spent £29.3m on sacking managers since 1992. Arsenal’s average cost per sacking is just over £7.3m. However, no compensation was paid to their first dismissed manager in the Premier League era, as Graham was sacked for misconduct in 1995 relating to his alleged involvement in a bung scandal.
Most expensive manager pay-outs per Big Six Premier League club
| Arsenal | ||
| Manager | Year sacked | Estimated compensation |
|---|---|---|
| Arsene Wenger | 2018 | £17.1m |
| Unai Emery | 2019 | £12m |
| Bruce Rioch | 1996 | £200,000 |
| Chelsea | ||
| Manager | Year sacked | Estimated compensation |
| Antonio Conte | 2018 | £26.6m |
| Jose Mourinho | 2007 | £23.1m |
| Thomas Tuchel | 2022 | £15m |
| Liverpool | ||
| Manager | Year sacked | Estimated compensation |
| Brendan Rodgers | 2015 | £15.6m |
| Gerard Houllier | 2004 | £10.7m |
| Kenny Dalglish | 2012 | £9.6m |
| Manchester City | ||
| Manager | Year sacked | Estimated compensation |
| Roberto Mancini | 2013 | £12m |
| Manuel Pellegrini | 2016 | £7.5m |
| Mark Hughes | 2009 | £3m |
| Tottenham Hotspur | ||
| Manager | Year sacked | Estimated compensation |
| Nuno Espirito Santo | 2021 | £14m |
| Mauricio Pochettino | 2019 | £12.5m |
| Jose Mourinho | 2021 | £11m |
| Manchester United | ||
| Manager | Year sacked | Estimated compensation |
| Jose Mourinho | 2018 | £19.6m |
| Erik ten Hag | 2024 | £10.4m |
| Ruben Amorim | 2026 | £9.63m |
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