Football is probably the best and most ridiculous sport in the world. You’ll probably agree, the amount of money involved is absurd. Despite this, we all still love the game. Though this is probably because we make money from football using matched betting. You can find out more about matched betting here.
As a society we’re often drawn to the players’ salaries as they’re usually stupidly obscene. However, have you ever considered what the managers at the top teams earn. We hadn’t either until it came up as a topic for discussion about a couple of weeks ago.
Some of these figures may be surprising to you!
We weren’t really sure what to expect. Surely manager’s salaries can’t be as high as players wages are?
Managers are arguably more important than the players and they’re the ones who take all the criticism when the team aren’t performing. In today’s cut-throat world, some football managers don’t even last a season. This is down to the owners quest for immediate results and glory which very rarely happens.
Look at Sir Alex Ferguson, the best football manager in the world in my view. He was at Man Utd for a total of 26 years. Over that huge time span you get to build a whole infrastructure around how you want the team to function on and off the field. That’s not possible in the 7 months Roberto Di Matteo got at Chelsea, for example, even though they won the Champions League and the FA Cup.
Keeping talented managers is obviously going to cost clubs a lot of money.
Here’s the top 7 highest earning managers:
7. Zinedine Zidane
The footballer turned manager makes our list thanks to his salary at Real Madrid where he earns about £8 million a year. He’s one of the only managers on our list who’s played in the modern era of football and made a lot of money in his playing days before becoming a manager. He’s Real Madrid’s 4th most successful manager in the clubs history, which is a great feat considering he’s only been there since the start of 2016.
6. Arsene Wenger
The Arsenal manager is locked into a £8.3 million three year deal which ends in 2017 although he has subsequently signed a new two year deal for around £8 million a year. Arsene Wenger has had a few tricky seasons with the Gunners amidst criticism from long standing fans that he’s served the club well but his time has come to an end. Despite this, Arsene Wenger recently broke the record for the number of different Premier League teams he’s beaten, now standing at 45 teams.
5. Pep Guardiola
Pep Guardiola is the current manager at Manchester City. He makes this list with a three year deal worth £12.5 million. Guardiola spent a great deal of his football career at Barcelona and then went on to manage the team for 4 seasons before a three year spell at Bayern Munich.
4. Carlo Ancelotti
Carlo Ancelotti makes this list thanks to his recently terminated contract at Bayern Munich. He had signed a three year deal worth £13.7 million however, the Italian was axed from the job after just one season in charge. I’m sure Ancelotti will still receive a huge compensation payout. Ancelotti is still the only manager to win the Champions League three times and reach the final four times.
3. Laurent Blanc
Laurent Blanc was sacked by PSG in June 2016 and was handed a £17. 3 million compensation package which puts him right up there on our highest earning managers list. I’m sure Blanc won’t be losing any sleep at night since his departure from the french club.
2. Marcello Lippi
You’ve probably heard less about Marcello Lippi than other managers on this list. However, he’s the only manager on this list to have won the Fifa World Cup (with Italy in 2006). His current contract as the China national team manager brings him a total of £20.3 million which puts him second on our list.
1. Jose Mourinho
Arch rivals to Man City are Manchester United where Jose Mourinho is in charge. Jose Mourinho is considered one of the greatest managers of all time. Having had successful spells at 5 different clubs he’s won 23 trophies overall making him one of the most successful managers in history. This expertise doesn’t come cheap and Mourinho’s three year deal is worth a whopping £24.2 million. This comes from various endorsements from companies including Adidas and Gore-Tex. Jose Mourinho and Manchester United are surely a sure bet for a trophy or two this season!
These managers are all at the top of their game however, the pay gap between the players and managers is surprisingly large.
Matched Betting
You might not be able to make as much money as some of these managers but matched betting is a great way to make a second income online from the comfort of your own home. You can find out more about matched betting here.
Here at The Sure Bettor, we advise members just starting out with matched betting to place bets on top tier football games like the Premier League.