A close friend of Avram Grant claimed shortly after the Israeli’s controversial appointment last September that he would be in charge of Chelsea for 15 years, such was the strength of his relationship with Roman Abramovich, but in reality he lasted little more eight months. Grant will not complain too loudly, however, certainly not to his bank manager, as with a payoff negotiated on top of his salary, his earnings over that period come to an extraordinary £8 million.

Grant’s £980,000-a-year contract as director of football was upgraded to £2.8 million last December after he had become first-team coach. Two days of negotiating with Peter Kenyon at Stamford Bridge on Friday and Saturday proved even more lucrative. Grant received a payoff of £5.2 million, which, although that is less than half of what José Mourinho was awarded, it still represents riches beyond the wildest imaginings of a man whose most high-profile job before joining Chelsea was managing Israel, where he earned £100,000.

Grant also believes that his reputation has been sufficiently enhanced for him to find alternative employment in the Barclays Premier League. The 53-year-old exceeded all expectations by taking a squad in disarray to the Champions League final and second place in the Premier League, shrewdly recognising the strength of the players and the tactics of the previous regime and letting them get on with it, while adding the odd innovation of his own.

His main strength lay in man-management, bringing the best out of players such as Michael Ballack and helping Joe Cole to produce his most consistent performances, but he also made the occasional tactical tweak. Although largely forgotten, because he was discarded towards the end of the season, the decision to deploy Shaun Wright-Phillips as a central midfield player while Michael Essien and John Obi Mikel were away at the African Cup of Nations was a master-stroke, with the 26-year-old far more effective than he often is on the wing.

Grant ultimately paid the price for failing to win a trophy, with his tactical aberration in dropping Ballack and playing Nicolas Anelka wide in the Carling Cup final being held against him, although some sources close to Abramovich insist that he would have been sacked even if Chelsea had won the Champions League.

The FA Cup fifth-round defeat by Barnsley in March was more significant than first thought, raising questions about his ability to motivate players, with recent outbursts from Anelka and Didier Drogba proving that he did not have the respect of the entire dressing-room.