Jose Mourinho’s Fenerbahce departure comes with an unexpected add-on

Former Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has remained a headline name since leaving Fenerbahce and taking charge of Benfica. The Portuguese coach departed Istanbul in August after a Champions League play-off defeat to Benfica, ending his contract early, instead of seeing it through to 2026.

For The Special One, that exit was accompanied by a significant payoff, with a compensation package in the region of £13 million, drawing attention to the overall cost of the decision for the Turkish club as Mourinho moved quickly back into work in Portugal.

However, there is now new information about his time with the Turkish club, especially with his living arrangements in Istanbul. According to Turkish outlet Yenicag Gazetesi, Mourinho is said to have chosen hotel living for virtually the entirety of his stay in Istanbul, basing himself at the Four Seasons on the Bosphorus for roughly 15 months of the 16-month spell.

The report claims the extended stay has allegedly left Fenerbahce with a hotel tab of approximately £656,000, with the club said to be picking up the bill. Neither Mourinho nor Fenerbahce have commented publicly on the claim, and it has not been confirmed whether any accommodation costs formed part of his contractual package.

The Four Seasons location is known for high-end suites, marble bathrooms and large terraces, with nightly rates that can run into the thousands. The suggestion is that the arrangement continued until his dismissal following the Champions League play-off defeat, to the very side he now manages.

However, this isn’t the first time Jose Mourinho opted for hotel accommodation during a job. During his tenure at Manchester United, he stayed at the Lowry Hotel for the duration of his Old Trafford spell, with the total cost reported at over £500,000. Now, his bill for doing the same in Turkey seems to have set a new record for the Portuguese manager.