No Guardiola or Klopp, so who is the Premier League's best manager? Ranking all 20 coaches for 2026/27

The Premier League returns on Friday and nine of the 20 teams will kick off the 2026/27 season under new leadership. It will also be the first season in 40 years without any of Alex Ferguson, Arsene Wenger, Jose Mourinho, Jurgen Klopp or Pep Guardiola in the dugout.

Those managerial legends have been the backbone of the league's success, with them outlasting the many star players who came and went as members of the celebrated teams they moulded.

That's not to say the Premier League is short of managerial talent – far from it – but it feels like a transitional period in which several candidates will compete to emerge as the competition's next era-defining coach.

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So, who's the best? It's a topic on which it is almost impossible to reach a consensus, but below we've attempted to evaluate the credentials of all 20 top-flight bosses.

20 Alvaro Arbeloa (Fulham)

Former defender Arbeloa, 43, spent half a season in charge of Real Madrid and now finds himself replacing Marco Silva at Fulham. His understanding of English football should help him after spells playing for Liverpool and West Ham, but he is the least experienced manager on this list. Arbeloa is well regarded at the Bernabeu for his work with the academy teams, but arrives at Craven Cottage as something of an unknown quantity.

19 Sergej Jakirovic (Hull City)

The 49-year-old was the ultimate journeyman pro in a playing career that spanned no fewer than 18 different clubs. His managerial pathway was similarly nomadic, but some success in the Balkans ultimately led him to Hull City. Jakirovic won the Bosnian Premier League with Zrinjski Mostar and the Croatian title with Dinamo Zagreb before taking Hull up via the play-offs.

18 Gary O'Neil (Ipswich Town)

The 43-year-old has plenty to prove after the way things ended at Wolves. O'Neil showed competence at Bournemouth but was then replaced by Andoni Iraola. He made a bright start at Molineux before it all unravelled and he was sacked with the team mired in relegation trouble. He joined Ipswich from Strasbourg in the summer and now gets another crack at the Premier League following Kieran McKenna's surprise decision to step down.

17 Keith Andrews (Brentford)

Andrews defied gloomy expectations to lead the Bees to a very impressive ninth-place finish in his one-and-only season as a senior manager. They were particularly dangerous away from home thanks to his sharp counter-attacking game plans. Andrews, 45, finished the season with a 40 per cent win rate in all competitions, with 18 victories, 13 draws and 14 defeats from 45 games. Backing up that solid start will be a challenge, but the Bees are a well-run outfit, and they have already made some very Brentford-like signings this summer.

16 Frank Lampard (Coventry City)

Lampard's reputation has taken a battering over the years. His first spell at Chelsea showed promise before it fell apart, but his second caretaker spell at Stamford Bridge was a disaster. In between, the 48-year-old kept Everton up (an underrated achievement given the gross negligence of the owners), but then had a shocker the following season when he tried to kick on. Consequently, there has been a redemption narrative attached to the excellent job he has done in leading Coventry back to the top flight after a 25-year absence.

15 Pierre Sage (Crystal Palace)

Sage arrives at Palace with his reputation enhanced after being named the 2025/26 French manager of the season following some stellar work at Lens. Sage, 47, had no real playing career of note, so he had to work his way up from the bottom. His big break came at Lyon in 2024 and he grasped it by taking them into the Europa League. He was sacked the following year after a poor run, but was snapped up by Lens. Last term, he led them to second place in Ligue 1 while also winning the French Cup, the club's first silverware in 27 years. The problem he faces is that he takes over a club that has sold most of its key players and failed to adequately replace them.

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14 Matthias Jaissle (Newcastle United)

A devotee of the Red Bull school, the 38-year-old won silverware in Austria and then did a fine job securing back-to-back Asian titles with Al Ahli Saudi. That double, while certainly impressive, must be caveated by saying it was achieved on home turf, with Jeddah the host city for the AFC Champions League Elite finals, and with an Ahli team blessed with the type of quality only their Saudi rivals can match in Asian competition. Jaissle is clearly a talented up-and-coming coach, but is unproven at the level and walks into Newcastle at a time of major flux.

13 Daniel Farke (Leeds United)

Farke is a likeable character who was previously typecast as a Championship specialist and a Premier League flop. That reputation was so ingrained that Leeds almost dumped him immediately after winning promotion. They'll be glad they didn't after he led them to a mid-table finish and an FA Cup semi-final. The 49-year-old rekindled the career of striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin and has built a squad that looks capable of a prolonged top-flight stay. The turning point last season was a shift to a back-three. Will he stick with it or be able to switch tactics again if opposition teams get wise to it?

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12 Marco Rose (Bournemouth)

Appointing the 49-year-old German could be viewed as something of a coup for Bournemouth, given he has managed some of the biggest clubs in the Bundesliga. Rose did well at Borussia Monchengladbach, Borussia Dortmund and RB Leipzig without ever truly excelling, even though he did win the DFB-Pokal at the latter. Like most coaches from the Red Bull system, he likes aggressive pressing and prefers quick, direct transitions over patient build-up. However, he might find Iraola and his overachieving Cherries side a tough act to follow.

11 Michael Carrick (Manchester United)

The former United midfielder made an excellent start at Old Trafford, quickly cutting through the folly of Ruben Amorim's disastrous tenure. Carrick simplified matters, returned to a shape and style more familiar to the club, deployed players in their correct positions and roles, and brought a feel-good factor. It was impressive stuff from a manager with a limited body of work at second-tier Middlesbrough. With the extra burden of Uefa Champions League football and United's recruitment hindered by the legacy of past mistakes, he faces a huge test in 2026/27. If he keeps United moving forward, the 45-year-old will rise up this list in no time.

10 Regis Le Bris (Sunderland)

The Frenchman's transformational impact on Sunderland cannot be overstated. Le Bris, 50, took a club used to life in the doldrums and led them back to the Premier League and into Europe at the first attempt. His fingerprints were all over a shrewd recruitment drive that helped them upset many established top-flight clubs. He also repeatedly showed an ability to impact games through tactical tweaks and smart substitutions. Maintaining that forward momentum and preventing the dreaded second-season drop-off might prove to be an even bigger achievement.

9 Fabian Hurzeler (Brighton)

Hurzeler is entering his third season at Brighton and is still only 33 years old. So far, Brighton have finished eighth twice under his leadership and will play Europa Conference League football next season. He landed the job in 2024 following outstanding work at St Pauli in Germany, where he took the club from a second-tier relegation battle to promotion to the Bundesliga. Brighton do things a bit differently and have invested heavily in young, data-driven signings, and Hurzeler has been entrusted to steer the project. The fans have had the odd grumble but he has proven himself a capable coach with a lot of upside.

8 Roberto De Zerbi (Tottenham Hotspur)

De Zerbi's high-risk, high-reward football marked him out as one of the more interesting coaches in Europe, with his work at Sassuolo putting him on the radar of more ambitious clubs. Two years at Brighton did plenty to burnish his reputation, but his 18 months at Marseille was more mixed following a strong start. Last season, the 47-year-old was pragmatic in a relegation battle, but will now want to implement his own style. He has been handsomely backed in the market, and most seem confident the team will surge up the table. It seems a good fit, but will it be that straightforward after successive 17th-place finishes?

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7 David Moyes (Everton)

There was a time when Moyes was the young upstart – now the 63-year-old is by far the most experienced coach in the division. Moyes has won more Premier League games (290) than any other man on this list has stood on the touchline for. He's had 12 top-eight finishes and won the Conference League with West Ham. He's unfashionable, overly loyal to certain players and isn't brave enough away from home against the division's strongest sides, but Moyes is a builder who specialises in taking teams from the lower reaches up into European contention. He seems midway through that process in his second spell at Everton. His longevity is not to be sniffed at, but with just 12 months left on his contract and the Scot as cantankerous as ever, will the Friedkin Group back him to continue?

6 Andoni Iraola (Liverpool)

The Basque coach has been viewed as an emerging force in management for some time and now gets his big opportunity at Anfield. The 44-year-old has earned his shot by overachieving at smaller clubs and doing so with a dynamic brand of football. Last season, he oversaw an 18-match unbeaten run at Bournemouth, eventually steering them to a sixth-place finish and European qualification for the first time. He'll be expected to hit the ground running, but inherits a squad in need of a few tweaks after some expensive but muddled recruitment.

5 Oliver Glasner (Nottingham Forest)

Glasner's perceived sideways move from Crystal Palace to Forest brought some derision, but it might be explained by the £13-million-a-year salary he now commands. It is elite money for an elite coach. The Austrian, 51, might not last long at clubs, but has proven adept at quickly moulding a winning team. He enjoys a 3-4-2-1 system with attacking wing-backs and two No 10s. He's an innovator, and the results back up his methods. Having won the Europa League at Frankfurt, he gave Palace fans the best days of their lives by delivering the FA Cup, Community Shield and Conference League in the space of 12 months. Demanding and outspoken, Glasner could have a fiery relationship with owner Evangelos Marinakis.

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4 Enzo Maresca (Manchester City)

The Italian faces the mammoth task of taking over from the great Guardiola, but at least seems a sensible choice. Having worked as an assistant to Guardiola at City and then dropping into the Championship with Leicester before a spell at Chelsea, the 46-year-old Maresca has served a lengthy apprenticeship. He's already a winner, having won the second tier with the Foxes, the Conference League and, even more impressively, the Club World Cup with Chelsea. He'll be offered patience, support and time as he sets about the unenviable task of following in the footsteps of a managerial giant.

3 Xabi Alonso (Chelsea)

Alonso arrives with a point to prove following his failed stint in charge of Real Madrid. However, his inability to galvanise arguably the most dysfunctional dressing room in world football should not be held against him or detract from what he achieved previously at Bayer Leverkusen. For one, he's the only manager on this list with an unbeaten domestic season on his CV, having taken the perennial also-rans to a treble of the league, DFB-Pokal and Super Cup. The 44-year-old's arrival at Chelsea is one of the most interesting subplots of the new season.

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2 Unai Emery (Aston Villa)

Spaniard Emery, 54, has the combination of vast experience, an elite track record and silverware across multiple leagues. That includes a total of five Europa League titles with three clubs and a domestic quadruple with PSG in 2017/18. Emery has transformed the fortunes of numerous clubs, improved players and delivered exciting football. His failure at Arsenal is sometimes held against him, but he has continued to win consistently in the years since and Villa are lucky to have him.

1 Mikel Arteta (Arsenal)

Arteta's achievement in delivering Arsenal's first league title in 22 years should not be downplayed – he succeeded where many others had failed. It was the culmination of years of steady building and the Gunners are now also genuine contenders for the Champions League. His challenge is to sustain their success and evolve the team's style of play, which at times has been attritional. They are hot favourites to retain their crown in 2026/27, and as manager of the division's current champions, the 44-year-old Arteta sits at the top of this list.