Football management is a brutal industry.
No matter what they’ve achieved, managers are only a few bad results away from the chopping block at most clubs. It’s especially the case in more recent times, as clubs chase instant success.
This may explain why there are often more than a few elite coaches resting up while their fellow managers slog it out on the sidelines. Some are waiting for the right role, while others won’t stay unemployed for too long.
But who are the high-profile available football managers right now?
Honourable mentions: Patrick Vieira, Stefano Pioli, Thiago Motta, Sean Dyche, Kieran McKenna, Vitor Pereira.
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10. Gareth Southgate
It’s been over 16 years since Gareth Southgate’s ill-fated spell in charge of Middlesbrough came to an end. Of course, he’s more than made his mark on the international scene since then.
Winning the 2016 Toulon Tournament was a decent enough achievement with England U21s, but then he was promoted to the senior team. Southgate went on to guide the Three Lions to a World Cup semi-final, a Uefa Nations League semi-final and two consecutive European Championship finals.
Southgate faced all sorts of criticisms about not being able to get the job done in the biggest moments. But ultimately, he achieved far more than any other England manager since Alf Ramsey and has a massive amount of credit in the bank for that. He completely flipped the script in terms of how the England national team is viewed and the expectations set upon them.
Will he now turn back to club management?
9. Thomas Frank
If you were looking at Thomas Frank’s Brentford tenure on its own, he’d be much higher up his list. His time at Tottenham Hotspur, though, has brought him down. But Frank is still a very capable manager. The fact that Ange Postecoglou also struggled at Tottenham may point to signs that their problems run deeper than just the man in charge. But Frank was appointed for the work he had done on the other side of London.
When Frank took over at Brentford in 2018, the Bees were mid-table in the Championship. And he had a tough start. But Frank eventually got things up and running, leading Brentford to the Championship by 2021. And Frank’s Brentford took the Premier League by storm. They didn’t look out of place at England’s top table, with Frank using statistics to improve the way his team played. It was seen as revolutionary, and earned Frank the reputation he has. The Tottenham tenure was bad, but Frank will no doubt be on a lot of wishlists soon.
8. Roberto Martinez
Roberto Martinez is in an interesting point of his managerial career. The Spaniard started as a club manager and had a decent record at less-than successful clubs. He oversaw Swansea City’s rise to the up the Football League, taking charge while the club were in League One. Although he didn’t take them to the Premier League, his work was credited as the start of it all. Martinez left Swansea for Wigan Athletic and pulled out some big results, but the Latics were far too inconsistent. That was largely the theme of Martinez’s Wigan career. They were able to beat the big boys on occasion, but flattered to deceive at times. When he led Wigan to FA Cup glory in 2013, they were also relegated from the Premier League.
Martinez moved on to Everton and had lofty expectations, hoping to break into Europe. Although the Champions League was the goal, Everton did qualify for the Europa League in his first season. They made it to the last-16 of the competition before losing. But, again, he struggled to gain consistency in the league and was sacked towards the end of the 2016 season. He moved into international management in 2016, taking charge of Belgium. Under his lead, Belgium reached the World Cup semi-finals in 2018 and finished third. At one point, they were the best team in the world based on Fifa’s World Rankings. But four years later they dropped out at the group stage. Portugal were next and they won the Uefa Nations League under Martinez. But their failures in Euro 2024 and at the 2026 World Cup were too great to ignore. Martinez’s insistence on playing an ageing Cristiano Ronaldo looks to have counted against him.
7. Julian Nagelsmann
Julian Nagelsmann is a tough manager to place. He was heralded at the start of his senior managerial career, which began when he took charge of Hoffenheim at the age of 28. When Nagelsmann took charge midway through the 2015-16 season, Hoffenheim were battling relegation from the Bundesliga. He helped them avoid the drop that campaign, and then led to to a fourth-placed finish in his first full season. Eventually, Nagelsmann led Hoffenheim to the Champions League though they generally struggled to deal with European football.
Nagelsmann had similar success at RB Leipzig, and even more in Europe. Under his tenure, they reached the semi-finals of the Champions League and were runners-up in the Bundesliga. He had taken them so close to a trophy, which had Bayern Munich sniffing. Although Nagelsmann won trophies in charge of Bayern Munich, it was during a period that that wasn’t hard. Off-field issues were the main problem, though Bayern Munich were second when Nagelsmann was sacked in March 2023. Nagelsmann then underwhelmed in charge of Germany, losing in the quarter-finals of their home Euros in 2024 before a last-32 exit to Paraguay at the World Cup. They lost that last game on penalties, their first-ever shootout defeat in World Cup history. How very un-German.
6. Arne Slot
Arne Slot’s ending at Liverpool was a sad one. The Reds looked a shadow of the team that had won the Premier League a year earlier. But they had won the Premier League, and Slot had more than played his part. Some people will claim that he led Liverpool to Premier League glory thanks to Jurgen Klopp’s setup, and there is some fairness to that. But he still had a lot of work to do, managing a Liverpool side with a lot of key players the wrong side of their peak.
And look at his record before Liverpool. Slot ended Feyenoord’s six-year wait for an Eredivisie title in 2022-23 — one of just two league successes they’ve had this century. The Rotterdam club also reached the Uefa Conference League final the season before, only narrowly losing to Jose Mourinho’s Roma. Across 148 games, Slot’s Feyenoord scored 346 goals and won 97 matches, adding the 2023-24 KNVB-Beker to their league title. He’ll bounce back soon.
5. Ernesto Valverde
Ernesto Valverde seems to be loved at almost every club he has managed. And that doesn’t happen if you aren’t a good manager. He has become synonymous with Athletic Bilbao over the years and will forever be remembered for the work done there. In terms of trophies, it has only led to one Copa del Rey in 2023-24 but that’s Athletic Bilbao’s sole success in over 40 years. Valverde is a legend and the reason why Athletic Bilbao are where they are today. He’s also a hero at Olympiacos, overseeing three title wins including back-to-back successes in 2010-11 and 2011-12.
Even when he came under fire for his time at Barcelona, Valverde still led the club to two league titles. That included a run which saw them only lose one league game in 2017-18, their penultimate match against Levante in which Valverde had rested Lionel Messi. Of course, the big failure there was the lack of Champions League. Still, there’s no denying that Valverde is one of the best managers of the 21st century.
4. Xavi
Xavi hasn’t been in the management game long, compared to some of the men on this list, but he’s already built a decent record. The Spaniard started his managerial career in Qatar with Al-Sadd, having ended his career at the club. It was at Al-Sadd that Xavi honed his skills, eventually making the much-expected switch to Barcelona in November 2021.
He took charge of a Barcelona side lacking any real identity, and in his first season, there were periods of struggle, but work was happening. It’s work that came to fruition in the second season as Xavi led Barcelona to the league title, his first full campaign as manager. It was a romp to the title too, as Barcelona finished 10 points clear. The third season wasn’t as good, but Xavi was dealing with injury issues and problems with the club off the pitch. He announced his intention to leave the club, was persuaded to stay and then sacked at the end of the season. When he’s ready, Xavi may be the free agent every club wants.
3. Jurgen Klopp
Jurgen Klopp has been out of the management game for two years since leaving Liverpool. Klopp was considered for new coaching positions, and it’s been reported that the United States approached him before hiring Mauricio Pochettino. It’s easy to understand why there was interest in Klopp, given his successful transformations of both Liverpool and Borussia Dortmund.
Under his leadership, Liverpool went from being in danger of dropping into mid-table obscurity to securing a long-awaited league title. Klopp’s style of football is also exciting, and he will have his pick of top coaching jobs when he’s ready. Although he says he doesn’t miss coaching. It’s also worth noting that he’s currently the global head of soccer at Red Bull, so a new coaching position isn’t likely in the near future.
2. Zinedine Zidane
We grew so used to watching Zinedine Zidane lift trophies as a manager, it’s easy to forget he hadn’t been in management long. But during that time, he won two La Liga titles and three consecutive Champions Leagues with Real Madrid, alongside a wealth of Super Cups and Club World Cups. It is a trophy haul many could only dream of across an entire career.
After failing to deliver any silverware in 2020-21, the Frenchman left the Bernabeu claiming Madrid didn’t show enough faith in him. He hasn’t managed since, waiting for the right job. We all know what that job is, but it’s still a few months out.
That’s because France manager Didier Deschamps has confirmed he will step down from the role after the 2026 World Cup. So Zidane may hold off, given he has a very good chance of becoming the next Les Bleus boss. According to reports, a deal is already in place.
1. Pep Guardiola
Pep Guardiola will stay top of this list until he decides he is ready to return to management. The Catalan manager is one of the best managers of all-time, let alone one of the best right now. He recently called time on a 10-year stay with Manchester City, during which he only added to his packed trophy cabinet. Guardiola won the Premier League six times, including a record four-in-a-row between 2020-21 and 2023-24. He also led Man City to there FA Cups, five Carabao Cups and the Champions League.
Management started before Man City for Guardiola, of course. But it’s more of the same. With Barcelona, Guardiola won three league titles, two Champions Leagues and two Copa del Rey trophies. At Bayern Munich he won three Bundesligas and two DFB-Pokals. Outside of the trophies, Guardiola has also revolutionised modern football and changed it forever. There may never be another like him.