Premier League 2026/27: Looking at teams with new managers ahead of new season
A manager is one of the most important pillars of a successful football team. While players get the majority of the accolades, the coaching unit toils in the background with endless analysis, preparation, team selection, and tactics for every single game.
There has been a massive overhaul in the coaching setups of several Premier League teams this summer. With Pep Guardiola leaving Manchester City, Chelsea parting ways with two coaches last season, Arne Slot being sacked by Liverpool, along with several other coaches making a switch, several Premier League clubs have been impacted.
Here, we take a look at the teams who are starting the 2026/27 Premier League season with a new head coach or manager at the helm.
Bournemouth | Marco Rose
After the departure of Andoni Iraola at the end of the 2025/26 season, Bournemouth hired German coach Marco Rose to succeed him. Rose has signed a three-year contract with the Cherries.
Rose started his coaching career with Mainz, whom he represented as a player, as an assistant coach of their B team. He has since gone on to work with top clubs like RB Salzburg, Borussia Mönchengladbach, Borussia Dortmund, and RB Leipzig.
The 49-year-old has helped his teams win major silverware in Austria and Germany. However, this is his first stint in the Premier League, and with Bournemouth set to play in the Europa League this season, it’s going to be even more challenging for him. Bournemouth played some of the most attractive football under Iraola in the past few seasons, and it will be interesting to see how Rose builds on what he’s inheriting from the Spaniard.
Chelsea | Xabi Alonso
Chelsea endured a torrid time last season, finishing outside of the European spots and making a mid-season managerial change twice. Enzo Maresca departed the club mid-season, and then his successor Liam Rosenior was sacked after only 106 days in charge. The Blues ended the season with Calum McFarlane as interim manager.
Prior to the new season, Chelsea showed intent by hiring former Liverpool player and Bayer Leverkusen coach Xabi Alonso as their new manager in May. Alonso signed a four-year contract to take charge at Stamford Bridge.
Alonso is a fairly new coach on the scene, with Bayer Leverkusen having been his first big coaching job after he started with Real Sociedad’s B team in the Spanish third tier. He saved Leverkusen from relegation in his first season and then won them an unprecedented and unbeaten Bundesliga title as well as the DFB-Pokal, also helping them reach the Europa League final, where they endured their only defeat of the season as they lost to Atalanta.
Ahead of the 2025/26 season, Alonso joined his former club Real Madrid as head coach. However, he departed mid-season with mutual consent, having seemingly failed to meet expectations at the Santiago Bernabéu.
With the Spaniard attracting interest from several quarters, Chelsea swooped in early to procure his services. Backed by the Chelsea hierarchy, Alonso has made some fantastic new signings, mixing youth, experience, and leadership in the squad. With Chelsea having a relaxed schedule due to no European football this season, Alonso has an advantage in focusing solely on the domestic front.
While his first priority will be to take Chelsea back into the Champions League places next season, Alonso could also lead Chelsea to a domestic trophy if not the league title this season.
Crystal Palace | Pierre Sage
After the departure of head coach Oliver Glasner, the Eagles went looking for a head coach in the French Ligue 1, ultimately settling on Lens boss Pierre Sage, handing him a three-year contract.
Suffice it to say, Glasner had a successful stint at Selhurst Park, winning major silverware with Palace: the 2024/25 FA Cup and the 2025/26 Conference League, punctuated nicely by the 2025 Community Shield. Glasner decided to leave on his own, making way for a new manager to guide Palace in the Premier League and Europa League this season.
Pierre Sage is an experienced French manager who has worked at Ligue 1 clubs Lyon and Lens in recent years. His last managerial stint at Lens was a fairly impressive one, as he guided them to a second-place finish in the league behind Paris Saint-Germain and won them their first-ever Coupe de France title. He also won the Ligue 1 Manager of the Year for the 2025/26 season.
Although Sage has been known to transform teams and help them perform with limited means, he has never managed in the Premier League, so it will be interesting to see if he can replicate his past success with Crystal Palace.
Fulham | Alvaro Arbeloa
Fulham’s coach of the last five years, Marco Silva, left to become the manager of Portuguese giants Benfica upon the expiry of his contract in June. Former Real Madrid player and coach Álvaro Arbeloa has been brought in as his successor on a three-year contract.
When Silva joined Fulham, they were down in the Championship. He got them promoted to the Premier League in his first season itself, and then helped them sustain their top-flight status, albeit without winning any trophies, barring of course the 2021/22 Championship title.
Arbeloa, meanwhile, a fullback in his playing days, also played in the Premier League, having spent two years with Liverpool (2007–09) and ended his playing career with a season-long stint at West Ham (2016/17). However, he doesn’t boast much experience as a manager, having only managed Real Madrid’s B team and their first team on an interim basis in the back half of last season after the sacking of Xabi Alonso.
All in all, this is quite a risky signing from Fulham, as they have usually thrived with experienced coaches at the helm. Knowing the competitive nature of the Premier League, the move could backfire for the Cottagers.
Liverpool | Andoni Iraola
Liverpool endured a dismal campaign last time out after winning the league title the season before. Despite spending some £450 million on new signings, the Reds failed to defend their title or win silverware, barely managing to qualify for the Champions League. As a result, head coach Arne Slot was sacked and was replaced by former Bournemouth coach Andoni Iraola.
Iraola arrived at Anfield on a two-year contract after leaving the Cherries in the summer. The Spaniard is also a fairly inexperienced coach, but he has the advantage and know-how of coaching a Premier League team and helping them punch above their weight. The 43-year-old Basque coach transformed the Cherries into one of the most exciting teams to watch in the division, also guiding them to their first-ever European qualification (Europa League) in his final season at the Vitality.
The expectations will be much higher for him at the most successful club in England, while Iraola will also have to juggle multiple competitions, with Liverpool playing in the Champions League and expected to go deep in the domestic competitions. His success at Liverpool will also require significant backing in the transfer market, with his squad needing to replace some key players who departed in the summer.
Manchester City | Enzo Maresca
Manchester City were arguably the biggest losers at the end of last season in terms of departures, as their decade-long marriage with the legendary manager Pep Guardiola came to an end. Before leaving, though, he did ensure City didn’t go another season without winning a major trophy and helped them win both the League Cup and the FA Cup.
City have decided to replace Guardiola with former Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca, bringing him back to the Etihad on a three-year contract. Maresca was part of Guardiola’s coaching team during City’s treble-winning 2022/23 season as an assistant coach. He also coached their Elite Development squad and helped them win the Premier League 2 title in 2020.
Maresca has huge shoes to fill, given Guardiola has left the Cityzens having established them as the best team in England over the last decade, winning six Premier League titles, one Champions League title, and several other trophies. Guardiola not only turned City into serial winners, but also helped them dominate the league and influenced the style of play played not just in the division but throughout the English pyramid.
Maresca has a massive job on his hands and is currently looking to retain as many key players as he can while bringing in reinforcements to ensure quality squad depth. Like any top club, at Man City the expectations are extremely high, and going trophyless will be treated as failure by both the fans and the management.
Newcastle United | Matthias Jaissle
The Magpies are another club who have had to bring in a new coach after Eddie Howe’s departure at the start of pre-season. Howe also brought success to Newcastle, winning them their first trophy (League Cup 2024/25) in four decades and guiding them to Champions League football twice during his time at Tyneside. He reportedly decided to part ways due to conflict over key player departures.
Howe’s successor, Matthias Jaissle, has been handed a four-year contract by Newcastle. This is the first Premier League coaching job for the German coach, who has previously coached in relatively weaker leagues like the Austrian Bundesliga and the Saudi Pro League. Jaissle has won major silverware at both of his previous clubs, most notable of his achievements being winning back-to-back AFC Champions League Elite titles with Al-Ahli. Although he hasn’t plied his trade in a top European league yet, he has experience of working with both youth talent and superstars.
Jaissle has a massive responsibility, as the Newcastle fans are a passionate lot and take their football seriously. With key players like Anthony Gordon, Bruno Guimarães, and Sandro Tonali having left the club this summer, Jaissle needs genuine backing from the higher-ups at the club in the transfer market to guide an in-transition Newcastle United back into the European spots.
Nottingham Forest | Oliver Glasner
Nottingham Forest’s case has been quite curious, to say the least. The Tricky Trees had hired Vítor Pereira in February earlier this year after sacking three managers through the season, and he ensured Forest’s survival.
Forest fired him in June, however, just before a contractual clause that would have increased his compensation was due to take effect. This came as a shock, and even Pereira was completely unaware and blindsided by the decision, having already made plans for a pre-season training camp in Portugal and scheduled friendlies as well. Forest then hired the services of former Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner, handing him a long-term contract.
This seems to be an astute appointment from a Nottingham Forest perspective, as Glasner has the experience of coaching a Premier League side and has also won cup competitions with them on a limited budget. However, this doesn’t seem like a great choice from Glasner’s perspective, as almost everyone believed he was due for a coaching role at a top club, having brought European success to his previous two teams (Palace and Eintracht Frankfurt).
It remains to be seen if the Austrian receives backing from the Forest management in bringing the kind of signings they need to secure a European spot this season.
Ipswich Town | Gary O’Neil
Ipswich Town are back in the top flight after a season-long stay in the Championship. However, under surprising circumstances, their head coach Kieran McKenna decided to part ways with the club ahead of the new season. The real reasons are not known, but McKenna has apparently decided to step aside from football management for a while.
The Tractor Boys have brought in Gary O’Neil from Ligue 1 side Strasbourg on a three-year deal. McKenna achieved success with Ipswich in terms of getting them promoted to the division twice. O’Neil, meanwhile, has coached in the Premier League twice before: with Bournemouth and Wolves. He will be well aware of the challenges that await him. His job will be to help Ipswich remain in the Premier League this time around and not suffer another immediate drop back down to the Football League.
Knowing the challenge ahead of them, Ipswich need to strengthen their squad to ensure O’Neil has a fair shot at helping them retain their top-flight status come May.
