When talking about the lucrative income that the global sport of football provides, the huge salaries of playing staff are most commonly discussed. However, the tactical masterminds behind the magic on the pitch are also paid large sums of money for their craft.
Reliable Italian journalist Tancredi Palmeri provided a list of the highest-paid managers in the sport as of the summer of 2023. There are certainly some surprises, and the riches of Saudi Arabia are shown to have had implications on the highest-earning managers, not just the players.
Which managers receive the biggest salaries in football? And are they deserving of their place in the financial pecking order when it comes to managers?
Roberto Mancini
Saudi Arabia’s footballing project extends far beyond simply improving their domestic league. Roberto Mancini’s appointment as manager of the national team is demonstrative of their ambitions.
The Saudis have huge improvements to make if they are to compete amongst the top nations at some point in the future. In football betting, they are currently seen as minnows for the next FIFA World Cup tournament offered at 500/1 to miraculously become champions. The latest sport tips suggest France are the most likely nation to claim glory in 2026.
The Arab Gulf nation will have to invest in the national team’s future for decades before they could be realistic contenders in a World Cup. They have put solid foundations in place by signing Mancini to a contract of around £25.7 million a year – according to Palmeri – which makes him the highest-paid manager on the planet.
The Italian manager has won multiple Serie A titles, and a Premier League title, and even tasted international success at a major tournament in the UEFA European Championships in 2021. He is certainly a top manager, but world-record deals should surely be reserved for the managers who are widely acclaimed as the world’s greatest.
Pep Guardiola
Pep Guardiola is a manager who truly has a claim to being the best coach in the world, and perhaps the leading innovator of his tactical generation. His wage at Manchester City certainly justifies his quality; the figure of around £19.7 million is only topped by the riches of Saudi Arabia.
In European football where finances are not quite as endless, the Spaniard is comfortably the highest-paid manager – a fitting title considering he delivered a famous treble victory which concluded with a UEFA Champions League triumph in June.
Guardiola is one of a few managers who could demand any sort of fee for his services – his quality can simply not be replaced by any other. His position as the highest earner on the European continent is certainly more than deserved for one of the game’s greatest managers ever.
Steven Gerrard
Steven Gerrard’s contract at Al Ettifaq allows him to earn more than the likes of Jurgen Klopp and Diego Simeone. The Englishman’s managerial CV does not even scrape the surface of what the latter pair have achieved from the sidelines.
This is again an effect of aggressive Saudi investment into the sport. Gerrard’s salary of around £15.2 million makes him the highest-paid club manager besides the legendary Guardiola. The former Liverpool man was an excellent player but his current earnings are enormous considering his brief experience at the managerial level.
The highest-paid managers in 2023, show how Saudi Arabia’s footballing project has had an impact on coaching staff incomes as well as players’ wage packets.
Only Guardiola’s wage can compete with the funds that the Saudi Public Investment Fund offers. In future, Saudi’s financial dominance could even see the Catalan tactician fall further down the pecking order, as other top managers flock to the Arab nation.
