How Pitso’s reported R2.5m monthly offer from Al Ahly compares globally

A former Al Ahly legend said the club has offered Pitso Mosimane R2.5m a month in his contract renewal, but whether the Red Devils coach stays on at the club or not, he has already outlasted some of his predecessors in Cairo.

TimesLIVE has not been able to verify the figure put forward by former Ahly goalkeeper turned TV pundit Ahmed Shobeir, who made the claim on Thursday. Former players often leak information into the public domain as a bargaining tool in the negotiating process.

It is an eye-watering figure and a lot more than the reported R1.5m former Orlando Pirates coach Milutin Sredojevic earned at Ahly’s rivals Zamalek.

“Al Ahly made Mosimane a good deal. I believe it’s now up to him. He previously said he wants to keep the position,” Shobeir told On-Time Sports via KingFut.com.

“I think it’s true Mosimane wants to stay in Al Ahly, but the negotiations are ongoing between the club and his agent [Mosimane’s wife Moira Tlhagale]. Al Ahly’s offer is between $160,000 (R2.4m) and $165,000 (R2.5m).”

There are, of course, many other points that need agreeing in a contract other than the salary, including performance clauses, targets and bonus payments. It is unclear what the sticking point might be, if there is one.

In an SA contex,t Mosimane’s salary is huge, but in global football terms it remains fairly modest.

Manchester City’s Pep Guardiola is reportedly the highest paid coach in the world with a basic salary of approximately R33m per month, but he is in a different league.

European champions Italy reportedly pay coach Roberto Mancini a little over R3m per month. Brazilian Carlos Alberto Parreira raked in R1.8m per month while in charge of Bafana Bafana at the 2010 Fifa World Cup, which was considered a large sum at the time, but that was 12 years ago.

From the latest figures available from the 2020-21 French Ligue 1 season, Mosimane would be earning more per month than 12 coaches in that 20-team league. It would also be more than six of the 20 coaches in Spain’s LaLiga.

But whatever happens going forward, Mosimane has had a longer stay at Ahly than all but one coach since the legendary Manuel Jose departed for the first time in 2009.

Mosimane has been in the job 17 months. Since Jose ended his five-year first stint in charge, 13 years ago, Ahly have had 14 permanent coaches, excluding caretakers.

Of those, only Hossam El Badry had a longer stint in charge than Mosimane when he lasted 21 months between August 2016 and May 2018.

That in itself is a huge feather in the cap of the South African as there are top names on the list of tacticians, not least Jose when he returned for another spell, Dutchman Martin Jol, Patrice Carteron from France and the Swiss René Weiler.

Mosimane is often compared to Jose because of his Champions League success and longevity in a notoriously hot seat in Cairo. He believes comparisons can only be made once he has more years in the job.

“Manuel José is a great coach, he did a lot for Al Ahly. He stayed here for seven years while I came here only 15 [17] months ago,” Mosimane said this week.

“If I stay here for seven years, then I can be compared to him. He also had players like Mohamed Aboutrika, Mohamed Barakat, and Wael Gomaa. I don’t have them in my team but I do everything I can for the club.”

Mosimane is steering Ahly at the 2021 Fifa Club World Cup in United Arab Emirates, where they meet Saudi Arabia's Al-Hilal in the third-place playoff in Abu Dhabi on Saturday night.