Ranking the 10 best managers who will be available this summer: Alonso, Pochettino…
Real Madrid, Manchester United and Tottenham are among the clubs likely to be looking for a new manager at the end of the season.
Fortunately for them, there are some proven managers and promising coaches who are either available right now, or will be come the summer, either when their contracts expire at the end of the season or after the World Cup.
We’ve ranked the 10 best coaches who will be available this summer ahead of what’s set to be a fascinating managerial merry-go-round.
10. Thomas Frank
It’s only been a couple of weeks and Frank’s successor has been ranting about Tottenham “lacking in attack, midfield, defence and brain”.
Superb copy, Igor Tudor, we can only thank you.
Frank might also be feeling grateful that his largely miserable eight months in charge of Spurs might soon not look so bad in hindsight.
The Dane didn’t rise to the occasion at Tottenham, that much is clear, but his steady, proven record over multiple seasons at Brentford should keep him in contention for solid, midtable jobs.
Crystal Palace, Fulham and Bournemouth could all soon be looking for a new manager. They all could do worse.
9. Ruben Amorim
Given Amorim’s record at Manchester United, he has to go down as one of the worst managers in Premier League history.
A worse points-per-game average than Alan Pardew, Chris Coleman and Tim Sherwood? While managing one of the most expensively assembled squads in Europe? Outrageously bad.
Given that, surely no top European club is touching Amorim with a bargepole. But, like Frank, there’s a reason he got the big job in the first place, and 18 months ago he was considered one of Europe’s most promising young coaches.
Time and time again, we’ve seen managers bounce back and prove their credentials. Amorim was a terrible fit and an unmitigated disaster at Old Trafford, but that doesn’t mean he can’t do a decent job elsewhere. Just look at David Moyes.
8. Didier Deschamps
Zinedine Zidane’s links to the Les Bleus job has dominated the headlines, but few people seem to care what Deschamps will do next.
He’s been part of the furniture of the international game for so long – like Gareth Southgate, or Joachim Loew – that it’s difficult to envisage returning to the club game.
Deschamps has an excellent track record (a Champions League final with Monaco, a Ligue 1 title with Marseille, a Serie B promotion with Juventus, not forgetting the World Cup) but he’s strangely overlooked.
We can’t see him building ‘a project’ in 2026, or getting an elite team at the vanguard. But as an Ancelotti-esque vibesman who is proven to get the best out of superstars like Kylian Mbappe?
Give him a call, Florentino Perez.
7. Xavi Hernandez
It’s approaching two years since Xavi left Barcelona after a tempestuous final few months.
Being patient and waiting for the right next job is wise (look at Graham Potter and Ange Postecoglou), but if he doesn’t return to the dugout by the start of next season he’s in danger of becoming the Catalan Curbishley. He needs to remind people of his existence.
The jury’s out on Xavi as a coach. His football wasn’t the beautiful tiki-taka you might’ve expected from an arch Cruyffist who enjoyed his best days playing under Pep Guardiola.
But it was relatively effective, and winning a La Liga title during Barca’s financial implosion is not to be sniffed at.
6. Filipe Luis
We don’t follow Brazilian football that closely, but we were shocked to wake up to the news that Flamengo have sacked Filipe Luis.
The 40-year-old has delivered no fewer than seven(!) pieces of silverware in his fledgling coaching career, including the Brazilian Serie A title and Copa Libertadores, South America’s answer to the Champions League.
His Flamengo team beat Chelsea in last summer’s Club World Cup, produced a creditable display against Bayern Munich and pushed European champions PSG all the way to penalties in December’s Intercontinental Cup final.
The baffling decision to dispense of his services could be a godsend for an ambitious, forward-thinking European club.
Appointing him would be a risk, given his lack of managerial experience in Europe, but surely one worth taking.
5. Enzo Maresca
Were Daniel Levy still at Tottenham, you’d have thought Maresca would’ve been a shoo-in for that job. He absolutely lived for appointing damaged goods ex-Chelsea managers.
We still don’t know how good the Italian actually is, or what kind of job he’ll get next, but it’ll be fun to find out.
Those Man City links continue to raise an eyebrow.
4. Oliver Glasner
Everyone could probably do without the unedifying spectacle of Glasner’s final few months at Crystal Palace.
Least of all the man himself, who seems to make himself less appealing to interested chairmen with every sullen press conference. Who wants to work with someone so stroppy?
Lots of clubs, most likely. The Austrian’s track record speaks for itself. He’s done more than enough to land a job where he’ll get the backing he’s been crying out for.
3. Mauricio Pochettino
Carlo Ancelotti and Thomas Tuchel have recently extended their contracts to go beyond the World Cup, but we can’t imagine Pochettino will follow suit.
Whatever the outcome of this summer, there appears to be little reason for him to extend his tenure past the glamour of guiding the host nation.
Pochettino has repeatedly spoken of his desire to return to Tottenham, and the stars appear to be aligning for that to finally happen.
Spurs dropping to the Championship might throw a spanner into the works, but he’s such a romantic that helming a brand new project from the bottom up would have its own unique appeal.
2. Andoni Iraola
Unlike Glasner, who has made it abundantly clear he won’t be sticking around, Iraola remains tight-lipped on his future.
He has such a good thing going on at Bournemouth that it wouldn’t at all be a surprise to see him extend his contract, which expires at the end of the season, and keep building with the Cherries.
But he’ll surely have some enticing offers if available.
Our one question mark with Iraola is whether he has the force of personality (the kids call it aura) to command respect at an elite club full of big egos.
We’ve seen the likes of Potter and Frank be chewed up and spat out before.
But Iraola’s excellent record of improving players and instilling complex tactical plans, with Bournemouth arguably producing the most aesthetically pleasing football in the Premier League, means he’s surely worthy of the opportunity.
1. Xabi Alonso
Dropping out of the Champions League top eight, a humiliating Copa del Rey exit to Albacete, and back-to-back La Liga defeats for the first time since 2019.
The grass isn’t always greener. A quick glance at Real Madrid’s current woes under Alvaro Arbeloa and Alonso’s work doesn’t look too shabby at all, in hindsight.
Madrid weren’t always convincing under Alonso, who rarely replicated the style of his Bayer Leverkusen side at their best.
But he averaged 2.37 points per game in La Liga – an average only bettered by four sides across Europe’s big leagues this season – and he did so while pragmatically compromising on his tactical principles to placate Los Blancos’ superstar prima donnas.
It’s becoming abundantly clear that he wasn’t the problem at the Bernabeu. And soon enough, Madrid’s loss will be another top club’s (Liverpool? Man City?) gain.
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