Sven-Goran Eriksson will leave his position as England head coach after the World Cup finals with a payoff of around ?5 million. While the Swede briefly took refuge from the storm caused by his indiscretions to undercover reporters, his advisers thrashed out the financial settlement Monday night that will give him a lucrative farewell, even if his team do not come close to lifting the trophy this summer.

Eriksson’s golden goodbye includes a guaranteed ?3.5 million after tax, even if he walks directly into a new post after the tournament. The remaining two years on his contract after July were worth ?9 million gross, but a bruised Eriksson was willing to accept the compromise deal offered by the Football Association board and Brian Barwick, the chief executive, in the wake of the ‘fake sheikh’ furore.

Both sides will present their deal as a happy compromise at a press conference although there is bound to be outrage in some quarters that Eriksson is guaranteed such a reward. He will counter by saying that he could have refused to come to an agreement and that his contract until 2008 was approved by several board members.

Barwick described it as “the right outcome”, before thanking Eriksson for his “tremendous co-operation”. He said: “Our main objective is giving Sven and the England team the best chance of achieving success at the World Cup. Sven is definitely the right man to lead us in Germany.” Eriksson reiterated that he “cares passionately about this job and I want everyone to know that”.