Also in February he was announced as a brand ambassador for Jaguar sports cars, a company he duly name-checked in one of his press conferences.Mourinho has also enjoyed lucrative tie-ups with the following companies: Porsche Design Sport, adidas, Braun, American Express, Henderson Global Investors, Millennium Bank, Johnnie Walker whisky and Armani.

So the total for Mourinho’s current deals as the most marketable - and most market-aware - manager in world football? That is conservatively-estimated at £2.4million a year, far more than most Premier League managers earn as their salary. When his Chelsea salary - widely reported to be just over £8million-a-year - is factored in, it brings his annual earnings to an eye-watering £11million. Only Pep Guardiola, who earns a reported £15million-a-year at Bayern Munich, can compete with those sums.

The numbers have been run by Repucom, who are a global company in sports market research, and who have tracked the phenomenal rise in Mourinho’s earning potential.

“Managers and coaches like Jose Mourinho are certainly very rare,” says Jon Stainer, the managing director of Repucom UK&I. “His charisma and outspoken nature mean he is never far from the headlines which when coupled with the success he has enjoyed throughout spells at some of football’s most iconic and well-followed clubs, Mourinho offers sponsors a unique marketing opportunity.”

Mourinho certainly transcends football. Apparently, according to Repucom, almost 82 per cent of the UK population are aware of him (what are the other 18 per cent doing?) while, globally, 59 per cent of people know he is the Chelsea manager.

In countries such as Spain that figure is as high as 97 per cent. Even 12 per cent of Americans know what his job is.

It helps that Mourinho, himself, is so unashamedly business-savvy. In last month’s victory away to Crystal Palace, on an unseasonly balmy October afternoon, Mourinho sported a scarf and coat while his counterpart Neil Warnock was in a polo-shirt. Asked why he was so wrapped about, Mourinho conceded it was a contractual obligation that he had to be clothed in that way. It certainly gives a twist on the term sweating the asset.