Top five highest release clauses paid by clubs for managers

Chelsea have done the deed twice as much as other clubs on this list.

Over the years we have seen how clubs have gone overboard to appoint managers. In the process, some have also triggered their release clause to acquire the manager of the other club.

Even though some managers had massive release clauses, we have witnessed clubs go to that limit to appoint those managers with a huge buyout clause.

With that, we will take a look at the top five managers whose release clause were triggered by the clubs wanting to make them their next head coach.

5. Brendan Rodgers – €10.4m (Leicester City)

Rodgers has enjoyed some great stints with top Premier League clubs. He managed Liverpool and went close to winning the Premier League before the Steven Gerrard infamous slip incident which saw them lose the title. When Rodgers was sacked by the Reds, he was then appointed as Celtic coach, where he had an excellent time.

This prompted Leicester City to hire the former Liverpool coach. They managed to appoint him by paying his €10.4 million release clause to the Scottish club. Then he steered the Foxes to the second-highest finish in the league, an FA Cup title and secured back-to-back Europa League qualification finishes.

4. Andre Villas-Boas – €15m (Chelsea)

Andre Villas-Boas was one of the most sought-after figures in world football after winning a treble in his first season as manager of Porto. Through Villas-Boas himself, Chelsea indirectly paid Porto €15 million to get him to London in 2011, when he agreed to a three-year contract with the Blues. But his time at the club was short-lived. The Portuguese coach only spent nine months at Stamford Bridge.

3. Jose Mourinho – €16m (Real Madrid)

Real Madrid fulfilled Jose Mourinho’s release clause by paying a then-record €16 million to bring him to the Santiago Bernabeu. This was after the manager led Inter Milan to a historic continental treble in 2010. The years that followed marked a turning point in the history of one of the world’s most prosperous teams.

Mourinho oversaw a record-breaking 100-point season in 2011–12 that would define his legacy at the club, despite facing off against Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona, who is perhaps the greatest manager of all time.

2. Julian Nagelsmann – €20m (Bayern)

Julian Nagelsmann, who was barely 35 years old, had become a prominent manager with his work at Hoffenheim and RB Leipzig. Meanwhile, the Bavarians were looking for a replacement for Flick. Bayern offered Leipzig a then-world record €20 million in compensation to sweeten the deal, even though it was clear that the Roten Bullen didn’t want to part ways with Nagelsmann.

During his two years at the club, he led them to the Bundesliga and DFL-Super Cup, before Bayern abruptly decided to sack him.

1. Graham Potter – €23m (Chelsea)

Chelsea broke Bayern’s record when they paid Brighton & Hove Albion a world record fee of €23 million to hire Graham Potter. However, Potter never had a successful stint at the club despite some good moments with the team. Following the club’s poor performance under him, the club’s board finally decided to make the decision and sacked him in the same season only.

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