Koeman joins Conte and Mourinho, football's settlement package kings

Antonio Conte is back in work. The Italian left Inter Milan by mutual consent back in May after guiding the team to the Serie A title. He fell out with the owners over plans to raise cash by selling players in the last transfer window. Inter sold Achraf then Lukaku later that summer. But Conte had long gone by then. He wasn't going to stick around and watch the squad he had built dismantled. He was out of work until last week when Fabio Paratici called him to offer him the Tottenham job. He is reported to have agreed a salary of 15 million euros. The 62-year-old is a highly respected coach with a solid reputation in Europe - as Chelsea know all too well.

Laughing all the way to the bank

Conte led Chelsea to success in the Premier League and FA Cup in successive seasons and won three straight Serie A titles with Juventus. He has enjoyed success wherever he has been but also tops the list of coaches to have been awarded the largest settlements when things have gone wrong. Also in that list is Ronald Koeman, who was recently sacked by Barcelona. The Dutch coach stands to receive 11.7 million euros in compensation. He is in 10th place and far behind top spot. When Conte was dismissed by Chelsea in 2018, the club had to pay him 30.6 million euros as part of his settlement package.

After Conte, Jose Mourinho appears twice. He was shown the door by Manchester United in 2018 and Chelsea in 2007, receiving 22.9 and 21 million euros respectively. Fourth position is occupied by Laurent Blanc - PSG had to pay up 19.8 million euros when he was handed his notice in 2016. Luiz Felipe Scolari completes the Top 5. The Brazilian was well compensated when Chelsea handed him his marching orders in 2009, he pocketed a cool 15.9 million euros in severance money.

Chelsea get the cheque book out

Fabio Capello is next in the list. The Italian coach received a handsome 15.6 million euro pay-off from the Russian Football Federation when he was given the boot in 2015. After him, in seventh place is the settlement which Daniel Levy had to pay Mauricio Pochettino when he parted ways with Tottenham in 2019 - 14.6 million euros. André Villas-Boas received slightly less, 14 million, when his job at Chelsea abruptly came to an end in 2012. Just a few months later, the Londoners had to pay Villa-Boas' replacement, Roberto Di Matteo 12.5 million.