Manchester United have sacked manager Jose Mourinho on the back of poor running this season, with Michael Carrick to immediately take charge of training.

The 55-year-old was sent packing after two-and-a-half years in charge of the Red Devils, who are sixth in the Premier League, 19 points behind leaders Liverpool, who spanked them 3-1 on Sunday.

Under the Portuguese, the most successful club in the Premier League suffered their worst start to a campaign for 28 years.

Also learned that the former Real Madrid head coach was dismissed because of his transfer spend of around £400m on 11 players that the club insist were all his choice.

Mourinho, it was further gathered, would receive nothing more than £15m as compensation.

“A caretaker-manager will be appointed until the end of the season while the club conducts a thorough recruitment process for a new, full-time manager,” United said in a statement.

“The club would like to thank Jose for his work during his time at Manchester United and to wish him success in the future.”