After what he called the worst year of his managerial career, José Mourinho is getting a raise, not that many care. At Real Madrid, he was already the world’s highest-paid coach, something few may know given how little we dwell on non-player wages.
With players, we care about the fees and the salaries, often tying that to ticket prices, television contracts, and the club’s overall spending. We rarely do the same for coaches or executives, though given how much Mourinho will make over the next four years, we probably should.
Mourinho was pulling in over $15 million per season to manage the Merengues, a figure that will get a noticeable bump after he returns to West London.. If The Times of London’s reporting is correct, the soon-to-be re-Chelsea’d boss will earn closer to $19 million per year in his return to Stamford Bridge.
As relayed from Business Week, The Times is reporting Mourinho’s new deal will be worth £50 million over four years, or around $75-76 million dollars. England’s tax rate takes a big chunk out of that, but even after giving around $6 million to the crown, Mourinho will pocket well over $12 million per year. That keeps him well ahead of Carlo Ancelotti, Marcelo Lippi and Guus Hiddink as the highest paid coaches in world soccer.
To put that in perspective, let’s go back in time, all the way back to our previous post about an hour ago. Zlatan Ibrahimovic, one of the elite talents in the world’s game, is making around $18 million per year. It’s a bit of a loaded comparison, given “Ibra” is having all his taxes covered by PSG, but it does provide some perspective. Expect for the ultra right-end, point-one percenters in the player market, José Mourinho is making more than anybody in the game.
So it goes without saying Mourinho, after he’s allowed to leave Real Madrid this week, will become the highest-paid coach in the history of the Premier League, a status that would normally lead to high expectations and huge accountability. Despite a trophy-less season that ended in a Copa del Rey flameout, the Portuguese boss will be tasked with recreating the magic that won Chelsea two Premier League titles after his 2004 arrival.
With The Special One, those expectations were always going to be in place, regardless the cost. Yet whereas sums like “Torres, £50 million” are tossed around frequently when evaluating players, don’t expect Mourinho’s price to be thrown back in his face. For the most part, we don’t care how much clubs are paying their coaches.