Erik ten Hag is earning £9million per year at Manchester United, meaning the club's biggest stars take home far more than their boss.
The wages of each Premier League manager have been revealed. Manchester City's Pep Guardiola is earning the most - £19m per year - while Jurgen Klopp (£16m) and Antonio Conte (£15m) are pocketing good money at Liverpool and Tottenham respectively.
Ten Hag's pay packet is substantial, but it breaks one of Sir Alex Ferguson's biggest rules - no United player can be bigger than the club. During his hugely-successful time in charge at Old Trafford, the legendary Scot was always paid more than his stars.
Ferguson, who retired in May 2013, is rightly regarded as one of the greatest managers of all time. He won 38 trophies at Old Trafford, including 13 Premier League titles, two Champions Leagues, the Club World Cup and the European Cup Winners' Cup.
Ferguson also enjoyed remarkable success with Aberdeen in Scotland, where he won 11 trophies, including three top-flight titles. His greatest achievement at Aberdeen was beating Real Madrid 2-1 in Gothenburg to win the 1983 Cup Winners' Cup final.
There were many secrets to Ferguson's success, but one of them was never letting his players think they were bigger than the club. Even when Wayne Rooney was given a mammoth £250,000-a-week salary in 2010, his manager was still earning more.
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Ferguson revealed this in his 2015 book, Leading . He wrote: "I told them I did not think it fair that Rooney should earn twice what I made. Joel Glazer said, 'I totally agree but what should we do?'. It was simple. We just agreed no player should be paid more than me."
Yet the Glazers, United's controversial owners, no longer adhere to that rule. According to Spotrac, there are eight United players earning more than Ten Hag. Two of those - David de Gea and Jadon Sancho (both £19.5m) - are earning more than double their boss.
The other United players earning more than Ten Hag are Raphael Varane (£17.7m), Casemiro (£15.6m), Anthony Martial (£13m), Bruno Fernandes (£12.5m), Antony (£10.4m) and Marcus Rashford (£10.4m). United's next highest earner after this is Harry Maguire (£8.5m).
Although this may alarm some United fans, it is important to remember that times have changed since Ferguson retired from management nearly a decade ago. Even Guardiola's salary is dwarfed by Kevin De Bruyne's (£20.8m) and Erling Haaland's (£19.5m).
Ten Hag has also proven himself to be a disciplinarian towards the club's biggest stars regardless of whether they earn more than him. Cristiano Ronaldo was the best-paid player in the Premier League - earning £26.8m per year - when his United contract was terminated by mutual consent in November.
Yet Ten Hag knew he could not remain a United player after he criticised his manager, the Glazers and others during a sensational interview with Piers Morgan. If Ten Hag is capable of giving Ronaldo the boot, United fans should not be worried about his salary.
