Roberto Di Matteo, who won the FA Cup and the Champions League as caretaker Chelsea manager, was sacked just eight months into his reign in November 2012 after failing to impress Roman Abramovich with his team’s performances after they missed out on the knockout stages of the Champions League.

He was initially asked to fill in as caretaker until the end of the 2011-12 season as Abramovich had got disillusioned with the three-year term of the now Tottenham Hotspurs manager, Andre Villas-Boas.

What transpired was instant success for the former West Brom manager, who went on to win the cup double within three months. However, his success story did not last long and he was replaced just a few months into the new season by Rafael Benitez.

Although Di Matteo has still been unable to secure a new job, it hasn’t been tough sailing for the 43-year-old. According to Yahoo! Eurosport, the Italian was unable to reach an agreement with Roman over a pay-off and hence, is continuing to receive his weekly wages and has already pocketed a cool £7 million.

This may explain why he was not in the running for the vacant Sunderland position after Di Canio was sacked, who was eventually replaced by Gus Poyet. Di Matteo would obviously target an increase to his current wages, which are on the higher side.

The report quotes Neil Ashton, Daily Mail’s well-known football reporter, who wrote, “The Italian was unable to reach a settlement with owner Roman Abramovich on his three-year deal when he was fired six months after winning the Champions League as interim boss.”

“Di Matteo has already banked almost £7million and will continue to pick up the king-sized salary until June 2014, meaning he is reluctant to take on another job for less money.”

Why would anyone accept anything less when you are earning close to £7 million doing absolutely nothing?