Jose Mourinho has joked that Manchester United could not afford to sack him. United released some of the pressure on Mourinho with a comfortable 2-0 victory over Burnley on Sunday, to alleviate what had been a poor start to the season.
Defeats to Brighton and Tottenham left United facing their worst start to a campaign in 26 years, but Romelu Lukaku struck twice to hand them a much-needed win at Turf Moor.
Had United lost to Burnley, the speculation over Mourinho’s future would have only intensified further.
But the Portuguese jokes that even if United felt forced to pull the trigger, they could not afford to pay him off.
Mourinho extended his contract as manager in January, keeping him at the club until 2020 with the option of a further year.
He earns around £15million a year, meaning United would have to part with at least £30m if they were to pay off his contract in full. Going by their summer, they’re reluctant to pay that much for anything.
“They say I’m in danger, but I don’t think so,” he told La Republicca.
“If they sent me away, do you have any idea how much money they would have to give me?!”
José Mourinho described Manchester United’s victory at Burnley as a win for Ed Woodward after the club’s vice-chairman was labelled “a specialist in failure” in the skies above Turf Moor.
United ended a troubled week with a comfortable defeat of Sean Dyche’s side despite having Marcus Rashford sent off and Joe Hart saving Paul Pogba’s second-half penalty. Romelu Lukaku struck twice before half-time as the visitors responded impressively to Monday’s 3-0 home defeat by Tottenham and growing criticism of their manager.