Jose Mourinho Agreed to Something He Has Only Done Once Before for Benfica Job
Jose Mourinho has held some of the biggest management jobs in football but even he has to compromise.
Chelsea welcome their former boss back to Stamford Bridge on Tuesday when Benfica come to town for the second league phase match of this season's Champions League.
Mourinho won the Premier League three times at the helm of the Blues and is a Champions League winner with both Porto and Inter Milan.
Since leaving Stamford Bridge for the second time, Mourinho has had spells in charge of Premier League rivals Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur as well as Roma and, most recently, Fenerbahce.
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Despite inviting the ire of Chelsea supporters by taking jobs at Man Utd and Spurs, he's expected to receive a warm welcome in West London on Tuesday.
Mourinho was sacked by Fenerbahce at the end of August but was snapped up Benfica, the club where his managerial career began 25 years ago, within three weeks.
Benfica president and former Portugal forward Rui Costa was grilled on television about his new manager and reluctantly revealed Mourinho's salary.
The former Real Madrid manager will earn a salary in the region of £6 million over the course of his two-year deal, according to theoretical benchmarking against ex-Benfica boss Roger Schmidt, who left the club last year.
"I don't think it's right to say his salary on television. It's a valuable contract. He's not above what Roger Schmidt earned. I can give you that, but don't ask me to say how much he earns," Rui Costa told TVI/CNN via the Manchester Evening News.
"It's around that figure. It's not a question of transparency or not; I don't think it's logical for the president of Benfica to disclose how much a particular person earns.
“It's the lowest salary Jose Mourinho has had since leaving Portugal. His desire to come to Benfica was one of the things that made me believe even more that he is the ideal coach for Benfica."
Mourinho's previous pay cut
Back in 2021, it was reported that Mourinho accepted a salary decrease amounting to £3.5 million per year in order to take up the Roma job.
According to the Daily Mail, Roma agreed a £6.5 million per year deal with the former Blues boss after earning £10 million per year at Spurs.
"Spurs will continue to pay some of his salary," reported the Mail. "As part of the contract he signed with Spurs until 2023, they will pay Mourinho £7.7m to ensure he receives the same salary he had in London."
Topics: Chelsea, Football, Jose Mourinho, Benfica, Champions League
Chris Nee