The man who speaks and complains more than any other manager in the world also gets paid better than the rest of ’em. Jose Mourinho leads a pack that included Roberto Mancini, Arsene Wenger, Alex Ferguson and Carlo Ancelotti as the highest paid football managers in the world, although his time with Real Madrid isn’t the best and most solid he’s ever had.
Roberto Mancini, Manchester City – €5.9 Million
Mancini, 48, has been the manager of Manchester City since midway through the 2009-2010 season, taking over for Mark Hughes. He has led them to the Champions League for the first time in club history and won the league title last season, but his disappointing UCL campaigns along with sometimes negative tactics he uses have made him quite often a pundit target for dismissal. He has won 58.4% of his matches with the club.
Jose Antonio Camacho, China – €5.9 Million
The 57 year old manager has coached the Spanish national team, Sevilla, Benfica and Real Madrid. He’s been making quite a nice living without the pressures of the La Liga since 2011, although he has failed to take the Chinese national team to the world cup in 2014.
Tito Vilanova, Barcelona – €7 Million
Tito Vilanova is flourishing in his first trip under the spotlight. Always known for being the assistant, Vilanova smoothly made the transition to becoming Pep’s heir at the Camp Nou, so far leading Barca to an undefeated campaign in the La Liga despite plenty of defensive and injury problems.
Fabio Capello, Russia – €7.8 Million
Capello doesn’t take small jobs; After coaching Milan, Real Madrid, Juventus, Roma and England, he took over the lucrative (since Roman Abramovich is funding it) job of Russia’s head coach, taking over for Dic Advocaat. So far, he’s having no problems leading them through the 2014 world cup qualifying campaign.
Guus Hiddink, Anzhi – €8.3 Million
Is paying a manager so much make him a better one? Probably not, not when Hiddink, 66, is very close to saying goodbye to the managerial job after 30 years, in which he has won mainly with PSV, including six league titles and one European Cup. He might end it all with another league title in Russia.
Arsene Wenger, Arsenal – €9.3 Million
The days of Arsene Wenger being considered a football genius are long gone. These days he represents a glorified past and a disappointing present, failing to march Arsenal towards a league title since 2004 after winning three during his first 7 season. He’s also gotten much better at making excuses for his failures.
Alex Ferguson, Manchester United – €9.4 Million
Hard to find a manager who deserves to be paid this much more than Sir Alex. He’s been with Manchester United since 1986, but he’s been gobbling up titles since his days as the manager of Aberdeen. With United, it just got bigger and better, winning 12 league titles and two Champions League trophies, leading United to yet another title challenge this season.
Marcello Lippi, Guangzhou Evergrande – €10 Million
After the failure of the 2010 World Cup, Lippi had to get away as far as possible from Italy and Europe. In truth, he’s won everything possible with Juventus and Italy, one of the two managers with a Champions League and World Cup medal in his cabinet. He already won his first title in China, leading Guangzhou Evergrande to the Super League title in 2012.
Carlo Ancelotti, PSG – €13.5 Million
If you have a squad worth hundreds of millions, what’s a few unnecessary millions to your manager? Carlo Ancelotti missed out on the Ligue 1 title during his first try, coming in for no reason last year to replace a very successful but not big enough of a name Antoine Kombouaré. This year he’s doing a little bit better, in the UCL as well, thanks to some impressive juggernaut signings.
Jose Mourinho, Real Madrid – €15.3 Million
It fits that the biggest mouth in the world gets the most money. Jose Mourinho has won the Champions League with Porto and Inter; he’s now won league titles in Italy, Spain, England and Portugal. He complains, whines and wins, probably more than anyone else. Still, Real’s disappointing start to the season, despite his deflection attempts, isn’t going unnoticed.