London – Roberto Di Matteo is still being paid a staggering £130,000 a week by Chelsea a year after his dramatic dismissal.
Di Matteo, who has turned down a number of top jobs since he was fired last November, is being paid in full until the end of the season.
Chelsea owner Abramovich has fired seven managers since he took over at Chelsea in 2003, but Di Matteo is the only one who has failed to reach a settlement.
Chelsea’s Champions League-winning coach was dismissed following their disastrous defeat against Juventus last season. Di Matteo also won the FA Cup with Chelsea in his short spell in charge following the dismissal of Andre Villas-Boas in March 2012.
Chelsea became the first champions in the history of the competition to fail to progress past the group stage after their poor start to last season.
Di Matteo paid the price for defeat in Turin with the sack when the team returned to London from Italy.
He has moved from his family home in Leamington Spa and is now living in Wimbledon village as he prepares for a return to the game.
Despite a clamour among teams in the Barclays Premier League and in Europe to appoint him, Di Matteo has no intention of returning to management until next season.
He is the latest name on Fulham’s radar as they consider replacements for Martin Jol following their poor start to the season. Although he lives close to Fulham’s Motspur Park training centre in south west London, Di Matteo is happy to spend time with his family on full pay until June.
He was also on Sunderland’s shortlist when Paolo Di Canio was sacked last month, but his contractual issues with Chelsea put them off.
Chelsea have a long history of paying off managers in the hire-them-and-fire-them era of Abramovich. But money is no issue for the Chelsea owner, something which has been made clear by the re-appoinment of Jose Mourinho.
The Portuguese coach and his staff were given a staggering £18million pay-off when he was sacked in 2007. Six years later Abramovich brought Mourinho back to the club to satisfy Chelsea fans following the unpopular Rafa Benitez era. – Daily Mail