20 Highest-Paid Football Managers in the World (2025)

Being a football manager is a thankless task. It brings an incredible amount of pressure, often without too much reward. Unless a manager retires or resigns, they will be sacked from their job as soon as results become less than satisfactory. But if they are good enough to manage at the top level, they will be extremely well paid for the gig.

An insane amount of money is flying around in the beautiful game, with elite players and managers being paid mind-blowing sums. The finances have only continued to grow over the years, especially with Saudi Pro League clubs handing out huge contracts to lure the likes of Laurent Blanc to their shores.

Due to this, we have outlined the 20 highest-paid managers in the world, stretching from the international game to the desperation to win the Champions League at certain clubs. The dynamic in the sport is consistently changing – and it’s likely these managers will be at the forefront.

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20

Oliver Glasner – Crystal Palace

Yearly Wage: £4.6m

Crystal Palace aren’t known for big spending, so when they handed former Eintracht Frankfurt boss Oliver Glasner a £4.6 million-per-year contract, expectations were high. His appointment came after the Patrick Vieira project fizzled out, and the club reverted to the familiar safety net of Roy Hodgson.

At the time, it felt like a return to the Eagles’ cautious approach, but the subsequent move for Glasner has proven to be anything but. By delivering the club’s first-ever major trophy with an FA Cup triumph, the Austrian has repaid Palace’s gamble with interest – and then some. Whether the south Londoners can retain the 51-year-old’s managerial services, however, remains to be seen. He’s certainly going to be sought after.

19

Antonio Conte – Napoli

Yearly wage: £5.2m

Antonio Conte, after struggling to win anything of note during his spell at Tottenham Hotspur, has enjoyed one of the finest stints of his career back in Italy; a country he is awfully familiar with. Appointed in the summer of 2024, he managed to help bring Serie A success back to Naples at the first time of asking and, buoyed by Scott McTominay and Kevin De Bruyne, will be hoping for the same in 2025/26.

A one-time winner with Chelsea, Conte is one of the most tactically astute managers in the game and, for his services, Napoli are coughing up €6 million (which is equivalent to £5.2m) each year. His lofty take-home is certainly paying off, however, and they’ve landed themsleves a gem in the wily Italian.

18

Thomas Tuchel – England

Yearly wage: £6m

With Gareth Southgate stepping down as England boss, Thomas Tuchel has been selected as his successor and will make a very pretty penny as a result. The Three Lions have won just one major piece of silverware throughout their history, but the German has brought a winner’s pedigree with him.

Through spells with Borussia Dortmund, Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea and Bayern Munich, he’s won a handful of trophies over the years. That experience of winning saw him immediately become one of the highest-paid managers in the world with his appointment. If he manages to deliver England their first triumph since 1966, though, his salary will be regarded as a huge bargain.

17

Arne Slot – Liverpool

Yearly Wage: £6.4m

Liverpool boss Arne Slot has exceeded all expectations since replacing Jurgen Klopp at the start of the 2024-25 campaign. Filling Klopp’s big shoes appeared to be an almost-impossible task, but the assured Dutchman has made it look effortless and Liverpool are now 20-time English champions thanks to the seasoned manager’s meticulous graft. Oh, and thanks to Mohamed Salah’s mountainous efforts in the final third.

Should a pay-rise be on the cards for the Dutchman? Slot could certainly be forgiven so after masterminding Liverpool’s continued success. The 46-year-old, formerly of Eredivisie outfit Feyenoord, is currently rated as the third best manager in world football, based on our latest rankings.

16

Hansi Flick – Barcelona

Yearly wage: £6.5m

Barcelona, under Hansi Flick’s stewardship, have quickly become one of the best teams in world football, boasting the likes of Lamine Yamal, Raphinha and Robert Lewandowksi. Such a lethal three-man attacking unit, there’s no surprise that the Spanish side are expected to endure plenty of success in the coming years – but Flick could be equally important to their success.

Things didn’t exactly work out for the 60-year-old in the respective hotseat of either Bayern Munich or Germany; but in Barcelona is where he’s found his groove. In the dugout since the summer of 2024, there are very few managers that can hold themselves in the same regard as Flick. For his dues, he’s paid £6.5 million on a week-by-week basis.

15

Ruben Amorim – Manchester United

Yearly wage: £6.7m

After Manchester United finally parted ways with Erik ten Hag, Ruben Amorim was swiftly named as his successor after less than a week of scoping for the Dutchman’s heir. The Portuguese man penned a deal at Old Trafford that runs until 2027 and has an option for a further year.

The latest to test his luck in football’s most pressure-laden job is reportedly set to pocket £6.5m per season whilst working at the Theatre of Dreams. While Man Utd have endured a disastrous season in the Premier League and ended up finishing just above the relegation zone, Amorim’s Get Out of Jail free card might just be a big summer rebuild that has already welcomed Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha through the doors.

14

Xabi Alonso – Real Madrid

Yearly Wage: £6.7m

Xabi Alonso guided Bayer Leverkusen to their first-ever Bundesliga title in 2024. In doing so, he led them on the longest unbeaten streak out of the major leagues in Europe, something which was never expected just a year beforehand. The Spaniard is loved by the club, players and fans, and he has now earned himself a position as Real Madrid’s shot-caller.

Earning £6.7m every 12 months while operating in the Bernabeu’s control room, the retired midfielder’s first mission will be to take Los Blancos back to Europe’s summit – no pressure at all, of course, but he’s got the abundance of talent to achieve such a feat.

13

Vincent Kompany – Bayern Munich

Yearly wage: £7.8m

Despite finding himself at the bottom of Bayern Munich’s potential list of managerial candidates in the summer of 2024 – behind a failed U-turn for Thomas Tuchel, the head coach who the club was sacking in the first place – Vincent Kompany was handsomely rewarded upon his arrival in Bavaria. Just 18 short days after Burnley’s Premier League relegation was confirmed, the Clarets had their manager poached by the record Bundesliga champions.

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On top of Kompany’s steep salary – which is roughly £2m less than Tuchel took home during his solitary season in Munich – Bayern had to stump up a £10.2m compensation fee to extract the Belgian manager from his existing deal with Burnley. He delivered the Bundesliga title to the Bavarian giants at the end of his debut campaign in charge at the Allianz Arena.

12

Thomas Frank – Tottenham Hotspur

Yearly Wage: £8m

Announced as Brentford’s head coach in 2018, Thomas Frank had not only led the London club to promotion to the Premier League in 2021, but has since stabilised them there. Even more impressively, in 2023, he established the Bees as genuine contenders for Europe, leading them to ninth place in the league table, and he was snared by Tottenham Hotspur in 2025.

Excited about the new challenge of replacing Ange Postecoglou, Frank accepted the chance to move across London and joins Spurs on a three-year contract. In the process, the intelligent Dane has tripled his wages to around the £8 million mark, according to The Times.

11

Laurent Blanc – Al-Ittihad

Yearly wage: £8.3m

After an unsuccessful spell in his homeland at Olympique Lyonnais, where he was sacked in 2023, Laurent Blanc may not have expected Al Ittihad to offer him a golden bridge to join the Saudi club. But such was the case. And so it was that the French world champion joined the Middle East last July, on a salary of around £8.3m.

It is a move that has clearly paid off for the 59-year-old coach from France, who is now aiming to see his team crowned champions ahead of Al-Hilal and Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr, who finished top of last season’s Saudi top flight. Whether he is able to topple one of world football’s best-ever players again remains to be seen.