Julian Nagelsmann is now comfortably the most expensive coach in history after Bayern Munich paid RB Leipzig £21.7m to hire him as their new manager.
The capture of Nagelsmann blows the previous record fee for a manager, which has stood for 10 years, out of the water by an astonishing £8.5m.
The 33-year-old is widely seen as one of the most promising young managers in world football and was also attracting attention from Tottenham, who are currently searching for Jose Mourinho’s permanent successor.
Nagelsmann, who made his name as an exciting, progressive coach at Hoffenheim and then Leipzig, will take over as Bayern boss on July 1 after Hansi Flick agreed to terminate his contract to quit for Germany.
After Bayern agreed to pay an eye-watering sum in compensation, Sportsmail take a look back at the top 10 most expensive managerial signings in recent history – and you may be shocked by who features.
Julian Nagelsmann will join Bayern Munich next season after a £21.7m deal was agreed
Frank Lampard: £4m
With Chelsea’s ever-spinning manager merry go round, it’s little surprise that they play a bit of a theme in this list.
When Frank Lampard first became a manager with Derby back in 2018, it was always a matter of when and not if he would take over the club where he cemented legendary status as a player.
And it was perhaps that sentimental relationship that convinced Chelsea to pay £4million to hire Lampard back in July 2019 after he’d had just one season as a manager.
Chelsea paid Derby £4million to appoint Lampard as their new manager back in 2019
Lampard replaced Maurizio Sarri, who had left to join Juventus, under difficult circumstances with Chelsea under a transfer embargo.
The ex-Blues midfielder earned huge plaudits for negotiating that problem to deliver Champions League football while simultaneously promoting and developing the younger players in his squad in his first season in charge.
However, this campaign did not go according to plan despite Chelsea’s £250m summer splurge, and Lampard was sacked at the beginning of this year.
Maurizio Sarri, Brendan Rodgers, Mark Hughes and Ronald Koeman: £5m
Chelsea had splashed the cash on Maurizio Sarri the season before they appointed Lampard, paying Napoli in excess of £5million to buy him out of his contract.
Despite the high fee, Sarri was gone in a flash and lasted less than 12 months despite winning the Europa League.
Surprisingly, the sum paid by Chelsea for Sarri is the same as what Manchester City paid 13 years ago for Mark Hughes.
Chelsea and Everton paid £5m to hire Maurizio Sarri (left) and Ronald Koeman (right)
The £5m Blackburn received for Hughes was then a world record and came shortly after City were taken over by Abu Dhabi United Group Investment.
Hughes, who replaced Sven-Goran Eriksson and famously signed Robinho for a British record of £32.5m, last 18 months before being replaced.
Liverpool also paid £5m to take Brendan Rodgers from Swansea in 2012 while their Merseyside rivals Everton parted with the same sum to pinch Ronald Koeman from Southampton four years later.
Mark Hughes was plucked for same fee as he became first boss under Man City’s rich owners
Brendan Rodgers also cost Liverpool £5m when they pinched him away from Swansea
Jose Mourinho: £5.2m
This was one of the rare times Chelsea opened up their cheque book and got a manager who repaid their outlay tenfold.
Jose Mourinho arrived on these shores in 2004 as the self-proclaimed ‘Special One’ after Chelsea paid Porto £5.2m to take their Champions League-winning coach, and boy did he live up to his name.
During his first spell at the club, which spanned from 2004 to 2007, Mourinho won two Premier League titles, two League cups and one FA Cup with a 67.03 win percentage.
Under Mourinho’s tenure, Chelsea transformed into the best team in the country with those three years widely seen as the club’s best of the Roman Abramovich golden era.
The Portuguese boss left after a hugely successful three years to take over Inter Milan and would end up returning to the club in 2013.
Chelsea spent just over £5m to hire Jose Mourinho from Porto, which proved to be a bargain
Jose Mourinho: £6.9m
Back in 2010, Mourinho was at the peak of his managerial powers and widely viewed as the best in the world.
He had won the Champions League with Porto, enjoyed a trophy-laden spell at Chelsea and just led Inter Milan to a historic treble.
Real Madrid wanted a Galatico-esque manager to go with their squad of expensive, world famous players.
They had no further to look than Mourinho, who fitted the bill perfectly and was seen as someone who could help Barcelona’s growing dominance in Spain.
Madrid paid Inter Milan £6.9m to bring Mourinho on board, and although he won every cup on offer in Spain in his three years at the Bernabeu, his time there in charge is not remembered fondly by fans.
Mourinho went for big money again when he switched Inter Milan for Real Madrid in 2010
Ruben Amorim: £8.6m
Here’s one for the books – Ruben Amorim had only managed 13 top-flight games when he became, at the time, the second most expensive manager in history!
The little-known 36-year-old has built up an auspicious reputation in Portugal and is on the cusp of winning the league title with Sporting CP this season.
Amorim got his first top-flight job with Braga in 2019, and went on an astonishing run which convinced Sporting to spend big on him last year.
Ruben Amorim joined Sporting for a staggering £8.6m after managing just 13 top-flight games
In his first game in charge of Braga he guided them to a 7-1 victory before going on to lift the Portuguese League Cup and claim wins over Porto, Sporting and Benfica.
Sporting paid £8.6m for Amorim last March – making him their fourth manager during what was a turbulent season – but he has since steadied the ship and added another League Cup to his collection.
He has a remarkable win rate of over 70 per cent and has steered Sporting to top spot in the league with a six-point advantage over Porto in second. Last month he signed a three-year renewal and reportedly now has a buyout clause of £26m. Could he one day eclipse Nagelsmann’s record?
He has already delivered cup success and is on the verge of winning the league this season
Brendan Rodgers: £8.8m
Just like Mourinho, Brendan Rodgers features twice in this list.
That is somewhat uncanny when considering Rodgers cut his teeth under Mourinho during their time together at Chelsea.
The Northern Irishman was on the verge of winning the treble-treble in Scotland with Celtic when he decided to jump ship midway through the season to join Leicester.
Rodgers had won seven out of seven trophies at Celtic and set a British record of 69-games unbeaten, but decided the timing was right for him to return to England.
There were other options but in the end Leicester’s squad of promising young players persuaded Rodgers to take the job, with the club having to fork out £8.8m.
The 48-year-old has done a fantastic job since taking over, with his Leicester side in the FA Cup final and closing on a top-four finish.
Leicester shelled out almost £9m to land Brendan Rodgers after his successful spell at Celtic
Andre Villas-Boas: £13.3m
Andre Villas-Boas was supposed to be the next Mourinho and Chelsea quickly snapped him up for a massive £13.3m back in 2011.
Villas-Boas was only 33 at the time and had just led Porto to a famous quadruple, winning the league, cup, Super Cup and Europa League as well as going unbeaten domestically all season.
The Portuguese boss came with huge promise but proved to be a costly mistake.
Boas fell victim to Abramovich’s ruthless hire-and-fire policy at Chelsea, lasting just nine months in the job before being shown the door.
Chelsea made Andre Villas-Boas the most expensive boss ever when they paid £13.3m in 2011