Why Jose Mourinho may not receive full compensation if sacked by Tottenham
By Sean Walsh
Tottenham may not have to pay the full remaining total of Jose Mourinho's contract if they part ways due to contractual clauses linked to European qualification.
Mourinho has come in for heavy criticism for Spurs' poor form in 2021, and pressure continued to mount on the Portuguese head coach following their dismal 2-2 draw with struggling Newcastle on Sunday.
90min revealed recently that Brendan Rodgers is among the candidates to replace Mourinho if he leaves Tottenham in the near future, while Julian Nagelsmann and Steven Gerrard are also on Spurs' managerial shortlist.
There has been speculation that dismissing the former Chelsea manager could cost Spurs £30m in order to rip up Mourinho's reported £15m-a-year contract, which has two years left to run. However, the Daily Mail report that this deal is heavily incentivised, and the base salary is much closer to the £10m mark.
One of the main incentives in Mourinho's contract revolves around Spurs qualifying for Europe, which is not assured with just eight Premier League games remaining this season.
They're currently two points off a Champions League place, though have looked far worse in recent months than many of their competitors and it would require a major upturn in form to finish the season in the top four.
Winning the Carabao Cup later in April would guarantee Spurs qualification to the new Europa Conference League, though they would have to get through Manchester City for that to be a possibility. The Mail add that the club would not view this as top-level European competition, too.
Sacking Mourinho would still be expensive and could cost around £20m, but that's £10m less than what has been reported recently.
Mourinho welcomes former club Manchester United to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday, and Spurs will head into the fixture more refreshed than their visitors, who face Granada in the quarter-finals of the Europa League on Thursday.