Chelsea boss Mourinho passing Beckham in commercial stakes

Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho is swimming in endorsement money and is on course to surpass Real Madrid ace David Beckham as the most commercial football man on the planet.

The world's best-paid and hottest boss has just become a stablemate of the world's highest-profile and top-earning footballer at sportswear giant adidas.
 
In New York on Saturday, Mourinho was presented as adidas' latest addition to their high-profile stable.

The People says adidas will pay a reported £3m over the next four years - they also have a longer-term plan for Mourinho which involves him becoming an ambassador - for the privilege of having the Portuguese on board.

You can add to that other lucrative, but selective, top-notch endorsements of £340,000 a year from both credit card company American Express and Portuguese bank BPI.

And then there's the new five-year contract signed in May which puts his estimated Chelsea wages at £5.2m a year ... with bonuses on top.

His advisers, meanwhile, continue to turn down offers and proposed sponsorship deals worth several million pounds a year.

An adidas spokesman said: "Jose is extremely charismatic and at the top of his game. He's also very ambitious, but not in a bad way. He's a very driven, stylish individual and probably the most exciting manager in world football."

"Yes, he's handsome and that's part of his style, but we didn't sign him up because he's good looking. He's very good at what he does, a highly intelligent manager."

A close friend revealed: "We turn down millions of pounds of offers during a season, around £2-3-4m. We select two or three projects and that is enough."

"We look at all of them and it's important what kind of companies they are, if they have a good or big reputation."

"Sometimes we agree, sometimes we don't. They want to use Jose's image, his name, like BPI and AmEx. They made good offers and we accepted them. It's not in Jose's interest to do everything because it would cheapen the situation."