The 6 highest fees paid for a manager: Potter 2nd, Mourinho 6th…

It is often said that the most important figure in a football club is the manager, but you wouldn't think that when you look at the finances involved.

The fees exchanged between clubs when it comes to managers making the switch are only a tiny fraction of the astronomical amounts paid for the best players in the world.

But that could change in the coming years, with RB Leipzig holding back a record sum for their highly rated young manager. Here are the five most expensive fees paid for managers in history.

Mourinho's career peaked in 2010 when he led Inter to their first and only hat-trick. Knocking Pep Guardiola's Barcelona off their European perch has made him even more attractive to Real Madrid president Florentino Perez.

The biggest name at the time, the Portuguese coach orchestrated the Champions League semi-final win over Barcelona which robbed former rivals Real of the chance to lift the trophy at Santiago Bernabeu. After the Inter celebrations, Mourinho stayed in the Spanish capital to sign for the club.

Perez has announced Mourinho's arrival as 'this year's Galactico' - reasonably priced at just €8m.

The sparks were guaranteed to fly.

READ: 'We are the best, fuck you': the story of Barca and Real's four Clasicos in 18 days

5. Rubén Amorim

Former Benfica midfielder Amorim, who was capped 14 times for Portugal, became a manager straight after retiring in his early thirties.

He didn't need long in charge of Braga (less than three months) to convince Sporting Lisbon to pay 10 million euros for his signing in March 2020. He had miraculously led Braga to 10 wins over his 13 games in charge, but the rushed appointment raised eyebrows across Portugal.

It seems to have been a good investment, with the manager maintaining his win ratio of over 70%, which puts Sporting top of the Liga NOS and on course for their first league title since 2002.

Rodgers turned his back on the possibility of scoring a hat-trick at Celtic and potentially leading the club to 10 titles in a row when he jumped ship to join Leicester City midway through the 2018-19 season.< /p>

The move cost Leicester €10.5million, but the fee was seen as a bargain as Rodgers transformed the uninspiring unit under Claude Puel into a dynamic side that nearly secured qualification in the Champions League for two consecutive years - even if things have gone bad in recent months.

Celtic completed their Treble-Treble, and even added a fourth Treble for good measure, but fell apart with 10 straight down the line.

In 2011, Chelsea paid Porto €15m to land the 'mini-Mourinho' in hopes of replicating Jose's success at Stamford Bridge.

Nine months later, the Blues were paying Villas-Boas £11m not to manage them after a run of three wins from 12 Premier League games. Despite the expensive deal, Chelsea still ended the season as European champions under interim manager Robert Di Matteo.

Reflecting on Villas-Boas' reign, Frank Lampard, who found himself out of the squad at times under the Portuguese, told The Sun in 2014: "AVB had played their cards and it didn't work out. I don't know if he was too young or if it came too soon for him."

Looks familiar.

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