refusing to join Russian side Anzhi Makhachkala.
Spanish newspaper Marca claims the Portuguese boss rejected an astonishing £22 million-a-year AFTER tax to take the helm at the Black Sea club.
The Russian club are bankrolled by billionaire investor Suleyman Kerimov, who is apparently happy to splurge much of his estimated £12 billion fortune turning the Russian top flight strugglers into one of the powerhouses of European football.
Kerimov apparently made the offer to Mourinho soon after he took over the club in January of this year, at a time when the Real Madrid manager was in dispute with the club over transfer policy.
Mourinho patched up his differences with Real, however, and now has more control over transfers as he has been made head of "Football Operations" to give him the same sort of control over his squad as enjoyed by managers in the English system.
Anzhi hit the headlines earlier this year with their transfer signings of Chelsea defender Yuri Zhirkov and Brazil legend Roberto Carlos, but it was the deal to bring in Samuel Eto'o that got the side dubbed 'The Manchester City of Russia'.
Cameroon striker Eto'o joined Anzhi from Internazionale for an estimated £23.5m, with the player earning an astonishing £17m-a-year over the course of his three-year contract according to some reports.
But it seems that would have been dwarfed by the pay packet offered to Mourinho, had the club managed to persuade the 48-year-old to leave the Bernabeu.
Source: Yahoo Sports.
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