Top 10 Highest Paid Football Managers in 2015

Here is a list of the top ten highest paid football managers in the 2014/15 season, according to the Spanish sports magazine Marca:

1. Pep Gauardiola - 12million Euros annually

He is credited with changing Barcelona and game of football itself. The "tiki-taka" style is one of his inventions. Barca and Spain adopted the possession style of "tiki-taka" to great effect between 2009 and 2011, golden years for both the teams. Guardiola hasn't met with the same amount of success after moving to Bayern Munich. Opponents have seen through his supposedly impregnable tactics and the manifestation of that was a humiliating 1-5 drubbing at the hands of Real Madrid last year in the UEFA Champions League. He will probably have to think beyond his "possession style of football" if Bayern are to regain their lost European glory.

2. Jose Mourinho - 10.2million Euros annually

He is among the first to detect flaws in the "tiki-taka" game and devised strategies that frustrated a Barcelona attack no end and led to the Catalan's dethroning as European and Spanish champions in the past few years. Mourinho incorporated his out-of-the-box tactics with great success at Inter Milan and later on in Chelsea. With Chelsea, he's aiming for glory and wants to repeat the success stories of 2012 and 2013. Chelsea already are clear leaders in the English Premier League this season and barring hiccups should wrest the title. He has managed the Blues this season through one of the best UEFA Champions campaign so far and hopes to go past Paris St. Germain on Tuesday night into the Round of 8.

3. Arsene Wenger - 8.2million Euros annually

Arsene Wenger has become synonymous with Arsenal and managed one of the most successful teams in English football history, nicknamed the "Invincibles". But since those "Invincible" years of 2001 and 2002, the Gunners have got stuck in the 3rd and 4th position of the Premier League and not won an European title for a long time. Arsene Wenger needs to go beyond the staid stagnation that has set in at the Emirates.

4. Carlo Ancelotti - 7.5million Euros annually

The world's richest club, Real Madrid, reportedly worth $3.44 billion can easily afford to pay Carlo Ancelotti what amounts to the fourth highest salary paid to managers in the world of football. But he has paid back every euro earned by leading the club to four glorious titles in 2014 including El Decima (the 10th UEFA Champions Title) and hopes to repeat the feat this year, too. He is blessed with some of the most talented players in contemporary world football, one of them being Cristiano Ronaldo.

5. Manuel Pellegrini - 6.6million Euros annually

With UAE royal family as the owners, Manchester City can easily afford the highest paid manager in the world. So, it comes as no surprise that Manuel Pelegrini ranks 5th in the list of world's richest football managers. He has proved his worth since the time he joined at the Etihad in 2012 leading his club to two Premier League titles.

6. Diego Pablo Simeone - 6.0million Euros annually

Without the enormous resources of Spanish rivals, Real Madrid and Barcelona, at his disposal Simeone made the best of what he had and nearly brought of footballing miracle. When the Argentine joined Atletico Madrid as manager, the club was one of the many has-beens of a La Liga completely dominated by the traditional Big Two. His aggresive, passionate and unconventional thinking altered the balance of power in Spanish football. Atletico became La Liga champions, won the FA Cup and almost pulled off the impossible in the final of the UEFA Champions League last year. Never had this Madrid club won so many laurels under one man. Diego Simeone is worth much more than the 6 million Euros he earns annually.

7. Roberto Mancini - 4.5million Euros annually

After moving over from Manchester City which he managed for four years from 2009 to 2013 and Turkish club Galatasary for the 2013-14 season, Mancini is back with his old club, Inter Milan, whom he managed from 2004-08. He seriously needs to earn the huge sum of 4.5million Euros he is paid currently. Inter Milan is presently placed at a lowly 9th in the Serie A points table. Mancini needs to do the impossible if he wants to recreate the magic of his first stint with the club when he took them to three consecutive Serie A titles.

8. Jurgen Klopp - 4.2 million Euros annually

He managed Borussia Dortmund to two Bundesliga titles, two Super Cup titles and runners-up in the 2012-13 UEFA Champions Cup. All this was achieved after 2008, the year he joined the club, making him probably the most successful manager the Dortmund-based club ever had. The sudden departures of stars like Robert Lewandowski and Mario Goetze last season to Bayern Munich have left him unfazed. Down from a sub-15th place at the beginning of the Bundesliga season, he has fought back with a vengeance and are currently placed within the top 10 and advancing rapidly. The DFB-Pokal/German Cup very much seems to be within their reach this time. Klopp may possibly be orchestrating one of the great comebacks in German football. He is worth every cent of the salary he is being paid.

9. Jorge Jesus - 4.0 million Euros annually

Although Benifica of Portugal is not comparable to the giants of Europe and hardly possess any highly paid talent in their team ranks, Jorge Jesus's salary underlines the immense value the club management places on his stewardship. The Portuguese manager has earned the club two League titles, four Portuguese League Cups and two consecutive runners-up positions in the Europa Cup.

10. Brendan Rodgers - 3.9 million Euros annually

Taking over the reins at Liverpool in 2012, he managed the club out of the deep morass it had fallen into the past decade. The Reds came closest to winning the Premier League title in a long time and ended up runners-up to Manchester City by just a point in the 2013-14 season. Down in the dumps again at the beginning of the current season, Liverpool are making a great comeback and are within striking distance of the top four. There have been rumors of Manchester City evincing interest in Rodgers but so far that hasn't proved true.