MANCHESTER UNITED are set to make Jose Mourinho the best paid manager in the world after details of his contract emerged, reports Daily Express.
Former Chelsea boss Mourinho will earn £15.5million a year when he takes over from Louis van Gaal this summer – more than the £15m contract Manchester City have agreed with their new boss Pep Guardiola. And it underlines United’s determination not to be left behind by their neighbours.
Reports in Spain claim United are thrashing out a three-year contract with Mourinho’s agent Jorge Mendes worth in total £46.5m.
That work outs at about £300,000 a week – the same as Wayne Rooney, United’s captain and highest earning player, picks up.
Lawyers from both parties are reported to be working on a ‘maze of clauses’ which will be resolved in the coming days as United work on an appointment to counter last week’s confirmation from City that they have landed Guardiola, Mourinho’s bitter rival.
nited have spent more than £300m on new players since Sir Alex Ferguson left in 2013 but are ready to give Mourinho another huge transfer war chest to re-build the club into a European force again.
Neymar, Gareth Bale, Ross Barclay, James Rodriguez and Aymeric Laporte are all on the hit list with United’s hierarchy desperate to put the X-factor back in the team.
Reports that Mourinho has told friends the United job is a “done deal” were met by silence from Old Trafford and Mourinho’s camp yesterday.
But United’s executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward will be quizzed about the club’s managerial plans when he delivers the second quarter financial results today.
United’s have been hit by a drop in share prices that reached its lowest since December 2012 during Monday’s trading on the New York stock exchange.
Qualification for next season’s Champions League is looking far from certain with United still six points adrift of the top four and with only 13 games left.
Investors are today expected to grill Woodward during his conference call about Van Gaal. David Moyes was sacked two years ago once United’s hopes of qualifying for the Champions League had disappeared.
Mourinho dropped a heavy hint at the weekend he has a job lined up when he admitted he “will be back in the Premier League soon”.
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