As we understand the importance of good tactics and good systems the more and more football grows we are starting to see more of a rise in the money that is offered to managers.
Some managers can come into a club and completely change things from top to bottom and if Wayne Rooney is worth £250,000-per-week then some of these managers are entitled to a bit of the action, too.
Manchester United were lucky enough to have Alex Ferguson as manager for 27 years in which he won just about everything there is to win. Every club would like that stability and longevity and some owners are trying to tempt managers with lucrative wage deals.
Here’s a list to outline the top 10 highest paid managers in world football this year, according to Total Sportek, just to give an idea of the extent that managers are being paid…
10. Rafael Benitez – £4.5m
The Spaniard had a torrid time in charge of Real Madrid at the start of last season and arguably a worse time when he saw his new club! Newcastle relegated at the end of the season, though they did enjoy a marked improvement.
On the back of that, the Spanish tactician has shown a willingness to stay with his club and get them back into the bigtime.
And it’s easy to see why. Rafa will be earning £4.5m a year while at the Magpies. And the finances don’t stop there, he has been trusted with investment, snapping up Premier League-standard players such as Dwight Gayle and Matt Ritchie as he looks set to build a Championship force and bounce straight back up.
9. Mauricio Pochettino – £5.5m
Tottenham had a great season. Pochettino and his men battled until (near) the end and finished in a coveted Champions League position.
He also helped bring through a lot of English players with the likes of Dele Alli and Eric Dier being two of England’s better players at this years Euros. This led to the Argentine being offered a new deal, and it was a lucrative one.
The Spurs boss is set to recieve £5.5m a year until 2021.
However, if he can keep moving the North London club forward we doubt there will be too many complaints from chairman Daniel Levy.
8. Antonio Conte – £6.5m
Antonio Conte has performed brilliantly with Italy at this Euros and Chelsea fans all over will be excited to see some organisation and tactical nous. To convince the Italian to make the move to West London, Chelsea will be paying him £6.5m a year.
This figure adds a weight of expectation for the tactician to perform and if he can get the likes of Eden Hazard and Diego Costa performing to the levels that we’ve previously seen them play at then this won’t be a problem whatsoever.
7. Luis Enrique – £7m
The Barcelona boss came under some heavy fire from the press when he first took over the Catalan giants. However he has turned it around with League titles, Champions League trophies and Spanish Cups to match.
He has also got the best out of his front three; Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar.
As a reward Luis Enrique will be earning £7m a year. With all the revenue he has bought in from the success he has brought to Barcelona, £7m is no great feat and if he can carry on in the fashion he has started that figure could easily rise.
6. Jurgen Klopp – £7m
Since moving to Merseyside the former Dortmund manager has bought some real positivity and is giving the Kop faithful a reason to get out of their seat.
Liverpool will want to carry on pushing for the top four to get back where they believe they belong.
And by offering their manager £7m a year he should certainly have the motivation to do that, if he can get a bit more solidity at the back Liverpool could be a force to be reckoned with.
5. Zinedine Zidane – £8m
The Frenchman has been a class act since taking over as Real Madrid boss from Rafa Benitez. He has led them to a Champions League victory and battled Barca for the title right until the end. Zidane receives £8m a year for his work.
After spending some time working with Real’s Castilla team, he has worked his way up and is proving to be a good appointment so far.
Real Madrid are bound to make a marquee signing and Zidane will have an opportunity to bring in some more big players to his already star-studded side.
Rich on and off the pitch.
4. Arsene Wenger – £8.3m
Gunners boss Arsene Wenger has been a stable manager in what is a hectic world of managerial appointments Arsene brings stability and consistency. He has been keeping the club fighting at the top level and for that he has to be respected.
Wenger is paid £8.3m a year by Arsenal. For the money he has made in developing players to be sold for astronomical fees, so you could argue it’s fair. It’s still a crazy amount of money.
3. Carlo Ancelotti – £9m
After losing Pep Guardiola, Bayern Munich decided to move forward by appointing the much-respected Carlo Ancelotti. The Italian joins with a wealth of experience after managing some of the biggest clubs in the world such as PSG, Real Madrid, Chelsea, A.C Milan and Juventus.
He will be earning £9m a year at the German Giants, you can only imagine after a career like his he used to seeing these kinds of figures. Bayern will be hoping he can win the Champions League in his time with Bayern: he certainly has the prestige and the know-how.
2. Jose Mourinho – £13.8m
In the end Manchester United’s season ended in disappointing fashion, despite winning the FA Cup. They needed to make a big statement and they did it by making none other than The Special One their manager.
Jose Mourinho has started life in Manchester as he wishes to continue by signing Ibrahimovic. Manchester United are a commercial powerhouse and have a constant flow of cash. Because of this they can afford to pay manager Mourinho £13.8m.
Hopefully for the sake of United you get what you pay for and we see Mourinho and his men at their very best.
1. Pep Guardiola – £15m
Manchester City finally got their man. An arguably bigger achievement than any player signing their new owners have made. Convincing one of the very best managers around is huge for the club.
Thus far in his career Pep has enjoyed much success and has helped develop players from mediocrity to world class. He always seems to get the very best out of his players and the Sky Blue faithful will hope this can continue and they can have a spell of dominance in English football and perhaps achieve in Europe.
For his services Manchester City will be paying him a whopping £15m a year. If Pep can transform the club to be something like the stature then it could be worth every penny
