-
Jose Mourinho remains one of the best paid managers in world football
-
Via salaries, commercial deals, and severance packages he has accrued enormous wealth
-
The legendary coach insists family is more important than football
José Mário dos Santos Mourinho Félix is unquestionably one of the most famous, infamous, and successful football coaches of all time.
While his achievements in the technical area have brought him widespread acclaim and the biggest jobs, his personality and sharp tongue has led to hyperbolic headlines and intense media scrutiny many times over.
Born on January 26th, 1963, in Setubal, Portugal, the son of a professional footballer and a primary school teacher, a young Jose inherited his father’s talents and carved out a living as a midfielder, though he never hit any great heights. “The second division was my level,” he later admitted.
As a coach however he truly excelled, finding his calling after initially making inroads into the profession working as a translator for Sir Bobby Robson at Sporting CP.
In a 15-year period, that took him from Porto to Manchester United, the self-titled ‘Special One’ lifted 25 trophies, including two Champions League triumphs and league titles in four different countries.
It is a highly impressive C.V. that has made him a household name across the globe and inevitably furnished him with enormous wealth.
How much is Jose Mourinho worth?
Mourinho has an estimated net worth of £89m, a substantial sum even for an individual who has scaled the highs of a multi-billion pound industry for two decades.
His appointment at Chelsea in 2004 saw his earnings sharply rise while later moves to Inter Milan and Real Madrid had the in-demand coach well rewarded with £8.3m-per-year and £9.1m-per-year salaries respectively.
It made him the best paid manager in the world at the time.
It was in the Premier League though where he was most lavishly remunerated. Indeed, it was once calculated that his two stints at Stamford Bridge, and subsequent spells at United and Spurs all combined equated to pre-tax income exceeding £40,000 a day.
Such riches have afforded Mourinho a £25m home in Belgravia, London, purchased for £6.5m in the early 2000s, as well as an extensive property portfolio that includes five houses in his native Portugal and a luxury villa overlooking Lake Como in Italy.
More so, few managers have better capitalised on their reputation for commercial gain, and the outspoken 59-year-old has never shied from attaching his name to brands and campaigns, especially in recent years.
These include Samsung, American Express, Heineken, Braun, Jaguar and Adidas. In fact, the list goes on.
There are also severance packages to factor in, an unpopular aspect of modern football that essentially sees a manager rewarded for failing.
His recent £18.1m pay-off from Spurs was the latest example of which there are several throughout Mourinho’s career.
Presently, he is said to be earning £6.4m a year at Roma, a decrease on his hefty wage at Spurs, yet in 2021 it was still reported that Jose Mourinho is better paid than all his peers bar Diego Simeone and Pep Guardiola.
Being one of the best football managers around is evidently a very lucrative area of expertise.
The Special One
A noted tactician whose will to win can sometimes take him close to the edge, Mourinho’s ability to forge successful teams was most in evidence at Porto and Chelsea.
He defied the odds by winning the Champions League with the Portuguese underdogs in 2004, then constructing a side in West London that dominated the English footballing landscape for years.
The current Premier League odds cast Chelsea as outsiders to claim their seventh crown. With Mourinho at his peak at the reins those odds would dramatically tumble.
A second Champions League triumph followed in 2010 with Inter but perhaps Mourinho’s greatest achievement was navigating Real Madrid to La Liga glory in 2012 during an era when Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona reigned supreme.
Jose Mourinho Controversies
Feuds and controversies have accompanied Mourinho’s career almost from the start, displaying a dark side to an otherwise engaging character.
At Chelsea a running battle with Arsenal’s Arsene Wenger – who, as a person and particularly as a manager can be considered Mourinho’s opposite – once resulted in the pair squabbling and pushing each other on the touchline.
In 2005, the Blues boss called the Frenchman a ‘voyeur’, insisting his rival ‘speaks and speaks and speaks about Chelsea’.
Premier League predictions have both Arsenal and Chelsea to only challenge for a top four spot this season with those days as fractious title contenders a distant memory right now.
Pep Guardiola is another managerial nemesis, though their relationship has thawed in recent years.
With each man at the helm of Spain’s two giants, Mourinho often took great pleasure in getting under the Catalan’s skin, repeatedly throwing barbed comments in his direction and suggesting that officials routinely favoured his team.
Family Life
Mourinho met his wife of 30 years Matilde when they were teenagers, with the pair marrying in 1989, both aged just 18.
Seven years later, a daughter - also named Matilde - was born followed in 2000 by a son, Jose Mario Jr and the football-obsessed coach has previously gone on record stating that family and being a good father are the most important things in his life.
Of the two children it is Matilde – nicknamed ‘Tita’ – who is most prominent in the public eye, promoting her jewellery range on her Instagram account that has 38,000 followers and hanging around with famous friends that include members of One Direction.
Mourinho In Decline?
Though Mourinho’s two-and-a-half years at Manchester United is generally deemed to be a disappointment it did bring two major honours in 2017 as well as a Community Shield.
Those however remain the last trophies won by one of the greatest coaches of his, or any other, generation.
Since leaving Old Trafford a troubled spell at Spurs has bled into a troubled spell at Roma and a manager who for so long was held in the highest esteem is now viewed very differently.
The common opinion is that the game has moved on, becoming more expansive and adventurous and that has left the arch-pragmatist in the past. Many believe his best days are behind him.
Certainly, there was a time when those who indulge in football betting online would back a Mourinho-team because the salt-and-pepper haired genius was in the dugout. Like Arsenal and Chelsea’s shared dominance, those days are a distant memory.
FIRST PUBLISHED: 23rd March 2022
