On Monday, Jose Mourinho left his job as Tottenham Hotspur manager just 17 months into a three-year contract.
The self-proclaimed “Special One,” Mourinho (58) was sacked by his last three clubs, all in the Premier League. Before taking charge of Tottenham, in November 2019, he worked for Chelsea and Manchester United. His time at Tottenham won’t be remembered for many things and marks the first job Mourinho leaves trophyless in 19 years.
Despite his poor results, Mourinho and his negotiating team have done a fantastic job in filling the manager’s bank accounts. Tottenham will pay him and his staff more than $22 million in compensation after the sacking. During his career, Mourinho has earned more than $82 million after getting fired from various teams.
Costly exits from Chelsea and Manchester United
The Portuguese manager was once a synonym for success in football. A Champions League winner with FC Porto (2004) and Inter (2010), Mourinho was hired by Real Madrid in 2011 to stop Guardiola’s flamboyant FC Barcelona, where Messi, Xavi, and Iniesta were starring. In three years, he managed to win a league, a Cup, and a Spanish Supercup. Mourinho was coming to Madrid after winning everything there was to win with Inter.
Before going to Italy, he enjoyed great success at Chelsea, but was sacked following a conflict with Russian billionaire owner Roman Abramovich. His exit from Chelsea in 2007 brought $32 million into his accounts. In 2013, Mourinho and Abramovich made peace. “The Special One” returned to Stamford Bridge, won the league in 2015, and ended up walking out the door by the end of the same year. This time, poor results and a divided dressing room cost him his job. Chelsea paid him $11.5 million upon his leaving.
In May 2016, Mourinho changed teams again, joining Chelsea’s Premier League rivals Manchester United. Despite winning the Europa League and the League Cup in his two-and-a-half years at Old Trafford, Mourinho left in December 2018. Again, United was far from challenging for the title and the players were unhappy, just like at Chelsea three years earlier. In November 2019, less than a year after leaving Manchester, he signed with Tottenham. According to well-informed OG News sources, Mourinho had a multi-million offer to become the head coach of the Chinese national team in the summer of 2019, but turned it down.
In total, Mourinho got payments worth more than $82 million from Tottenham, Chelsea, and Manchester United as compensation for his contract terminations.
Where next for Mourinho?
With the Premier League being looking like less of a possibility after his failed attempts as of late, Mourinho is exploring new horizons. His sacking flew below the radar because of the madness caused by the Super League story, so the media is still expecting comments from him on his time at Tottenham, and on his plans for the future.
Mourinho is at +550 to succeed Fernando Santos as coach of Portugal after the European Championship this summer. A comeback to the Italian Serie A with Inter’s arch-rivals Juventus is at +600, while a job in the Portuguese league is at +700. A return to Porto, where his success started, is at +900, with Celtic Glasgow and Napoli at +1200. Mourinho is at +2000 to become England’s next manager.