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Manchester United are the favourites to be looking for a new manager next, but who is available and looking for their next challenge?
Former Real Madrid, Barcelona, Juventus, Tottenham and Napoli coaches are among the most prominent names currently out of work and considering their options.
We’ve ranked the 10 best managers currently out of work. We’ll keep this one updated, so be sure to check back – particularly if your club is looking for its next leader.
10. Erik ten Hag
Imagine.
9. Gary O’Neil
Not entirely unjustifiably, O’Neil will fancy himself for another Premier League job.
Results-wise, his track record is more than decent. He kept Bournemouth in the Premier League, a feat that now looks especially difficult, while Wolves finished comfortably midtable in his one full season at Molineux.
But there was often a sense that the underlying performance data would catch up with him, which proved to be the case when Wolves’ form tailed off dramatically.
The fact that Andoni Iraola and Vitor Pereira have both overseen a discernible uptick does not reflect all that well on their coaching, either.
O’Neil might have to drop down to the Championship for his next challenge.
8. Sean Dyche
Sam Allardyce has surely now been resigned to football’s answer to ‘old man yells at cloud’ – his own podcast. Called ‘No Tippy Tappy Football’, because of course it is.
His days of being parachuted in as a Premier League firefighter are surely behind him.
But the firefighter’s flame still burns in Dyche, who still probably has enough clout to get a call from the next Premier League chairman circling the plughole.
Things went south at Everton, but his appointment had the desired shot-in-the-arm impact in the short term.
That could prove irresistible when things inevitably get desperate. Could a return to Turf Moor be on the cards?
7. Graham Potter
Sacked by West Ham after just eight months in charge, Potter’s next job will be fascinating.
His reputation has taken a battering at both the Hammers and Chelsea, and he’ll need a stable club to thrive once again.
The problem is, stable clubs generally don’t sack their managers mid-season. It’s a conundrum.
6. Marco Rose
After winning the statutory silverware in Austria with Red Bull Salzburg, Rose has had a respectable enough career back in Germany.
He took Borussia Monchengladbach to the Champions League knockout stages, achieved a standard runner-up finish in his one season at Borussia Dortmund, and led RB Leipzig to the DFB Pokal before things took a downturn – eventually resulting in his sacking – last season.
Rose’s tactical approach and CV gave him the managerial profile du jour a few years back, but you wonder if football – and Premier League clubs in particular – have now moved beyond that, when the likes of Ralph Hassenhuttl were all the rage.
5. Gareth Southgate
“You can’t say never to anything because 15 years ago I left Middlesbrough and I wasn’t certain I would manage then,” Southgate told the PA news agency during his appearance at the 2025 PFA Awards.
“Then I ended up on a strange path into managing the national team. But it’s not something I’m actively looking at at the moment.”
After the pressure cooker of the England job, it sounds as though he’s enjoying the quieter life, playing golf and paddle while writing a book.
While Southgate is the Three Lions’ most successful coach in half a century, we’re still left pondering how well his particular skillset would translate to a club job.
Those Manchester United links might reappear if Ruben Amorim doesn’t turn the ship around, though Dan Ashworth’s departure might’ve put paid to that.
He boasts a brilliant track record of handling media scrutiny while building a more positive culture and a winning mentality. However, nuts-and-bolts coaching, tactics, and in-game management questions still linger.
4. Luciano Spalletti
Three times a Serie A Coach of the Year, Spalletti’s excellent managerial career finally got its crowning glory in 2022-23 when he unexpectedly led Napoli to the Scudetto.
He left on that high, following reported friction with owner Aurelio De Laurentiis. Still, he has since been brought back down to earth after 18 months in charge of the Italy national team, during which there were early question marks over their ability to qualify for next summer’s World Cup.
The 66-year-old has one more Serie A job in him.
3. Thiago Motta
The former Italy international established a reputation as one of Europe’s top emerging coaches at Bologna, having guided them to a top-four finish in Serie A against all odds.
It was off the back of that fine work that he earned the significant opportunity at Juventus last summer, but it didn’t quite work out for him in Turin.
Last season, the Old Lady failed to replicate all the most exciting facets of his brilliant Bologna side, and Motta was eventually dismissed in March.
“I don’t agree with people saying it was a failure,” Motta reflected.
Our work was interrupted when we were one point off the Champions League places. I signed with Juventus because I thought it was going to be a three-year project.”
You imagine that setback has cost the 42-year-old a shot at another major Champions League club for now, but a mid-ranking club in Italy, Spain or England could do far worse.
2. Xavi Hernandez
One of the greatest midfielders of all time, there was a not-unfounded feel that arch Barca ideologue Xavi would be the next in line from Johan Cruyff and Pep Guardiola to bring about the next iteration of beautiful ‘Juego de Posicion’ football.
The reality was quite different. Leading Barcelona to the 2022-23 La Liga title was a fantastic achievement, particularly given the club’s off-field issues, but the style was lacking.
Defensively sound but underwhelmingly conservative.
Results declined in his second full season. At the same time, the football did not improve, and, as with so many coaches in the club’s history, the ‘entorno’ (essentially, the media noise surrounding the club) seemed to weigh heavily.
You look at the dazzlingly daring football they’ve played under his successor, Hansi Flick, and Raphinha’s near Ballon d’Or-worthy form, and wonder if he could’ve fared better.
“I still love football, it’s my passion,” he told The Athletic.
“I’m watching it 24 hours. My wife complains to me: ‘Again!’ she says.”
We’re interested to see how Xavi’s next move turns out. He has intimated that he’d be open to working in the Premier League.
Unfortunately, we could see a lucrative move to one of the top Saudi Pro League clubs; let’s hope not.
1. Zinedine Zidane
We couldn’t put anyone else at the top spot, could we?
Zizou won the Champions League in his first three seasons as a head coach. He’s won it more than Sir Alex Ferguson and stands level with Pep Guardiola.
His second stint at the Bernabeu wasn’t quite so impressive, but he still delivered a second La Liga title.
As with Carlo Ancelotti, there are question marks over his ability to work with non-elite players. His immaculate vibes-first approach is perfect for the creme de la creme, but how useful would it be with lesser footballers?
Fortunately, we’ll never find out. Zidane has absolutely no interest in taking on any such jobs.
At this point, it appears a formality that he’ll succeed Didier Deschamps as Les Bleus’ manager after next summer’s World Cup.
