Premier League 2026/27: Looking at teams with a new manager ahead of new season
A Head coach or a manager is one of the most important pillars of a successful football team. While players get the majority of the accolades, the coaching team toils in the background with endless analysis, preparation, team selection, and tactics for every single game.
There has been a massive overhaul of head coaches/managers in the Premier League this summer. With Pep Guardiola departing Manchester City, Chelsea parting ways with two coaches last season and Arne Slot being sacked by Liverpool along with several other coaches leaving for other managerial jobs, several Premier League clubs have been impacted.
Here, we take a look at the teams that 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 for the head-coach role. Marco Rose has signed a three-year contract with the Cherries.
Rose started his coaching career with his former club Mainz as an assistant-coach for the Mainz B team. He has already worked with top clubs like RB Salzburg, Borussia Monchengladbach, Borussia Dortmund and RB Leipzig before joining Bournemouth.
Rose has helped his teams win major silverware in Austria and Germany. However, this is his first stint in the English Premier League and with Bournemouth in Europa League, it’s going to be even more challenging for him to compete in domestic and European competitions. Bournemouth has played some of the most attractive football under Iraola in the past few seasons and it will be interesting to see how Bournemouth plays under Rose.
Chelsea | Xabi Alonso
Chelsea endured a torrid time last season, finishing outside of European spots which led to managerial changes at the club twice. Enzo Maresca departed Chelsea mid-season and then his successor Liam Rosenior was sacked only after being 106 days in charge. Chelsea 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 manager in May 2026. Alonso has signed a four-year contract with the Blues.
Alonso is a fairly new coach with Bayer Leverkusen as his first big coaching job after having coached Real Sociedad B Team in the third tier of La Liga. He saved Leverkusen from relegation in his first season and then won them an unbeaten Bundesliga title along with the DFB-Pokal trophy and also helped them to the Europa League final in his first full season at the club. Ahead of the 2025/26 season, Alonso joined his former club Real Madrid as the head coach. However, he departed mid-season with mutual consent after not having fulfilled expectations at the Santiago Bernabéu.
Amidst interest from several quarters, Chelsea swooped in early and hired his services. With backing from the Chelsea management, Alonso has made some fantastic new signings, mixing youth, experience and leadership in the squad. With Chelsea having a relaxed scheduling due to lack of European football, Alonso has an advantage to focus solely on the Premier League. Although the first priority would be getting back into 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, hiring the services of RC Lens coach Pierre Sage as their manager on a three-year contract. Glasner had a successful stint at Selhurst Park having won major silverware with Palace – the 2024/25 FA Cup and the 2025/26 Europa Conference League. 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 with French Ligue 1 clubs Lyon and Lens in recent years. His last managerial stint as Lens was a fairly impressive one as he guided them to a second-place finish in the league behind Paris Saint-Germain and also won Lens 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 and it would 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 departed to become the manager of Portuguese giants Benfica upon the expiry of his contract in June, 2026. Former Real Madrid player and coach, Alvaro Arbeloa was brought in as his successor on a three-year contract.
When Silva joined Fulham, they had been relegated to the Championship and he got them promoted to the Premier League in his first season only. Since then, Silva managed to sustain Premier League football for the London club though he didn’t help them win any trophies.
Arbeloa is a former Real Madrid fullback who also played in the Premier League with Liverpool in 2007 when he arrived on a season-long loan. However, he doesn’t have much experience of managing a top club as he has only managed the Real Madrid reserves team and only managed Los Blancos for a few months after the sacking of Xabi Alonso last season.
This is quite a risky signing for Fulham as they have always had experienced coaches at the helm and knowing the competitive nature of the Premier League, the move could backfire on the Cottagers.
Liverpool | Andoni Iraola
Liverpool FC endured a dismal 2025/26 season after having won the league title in the previous season. Even after spending £450 million on new signings in the transfer market, 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 former Bournemouth coach Andoni Iraola was appointed the new head coach of Liverpool FC.
Iraola arrived at Anfield on a two-year contract in June, 2026 after having departed Bournemouth 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. The 43-year-old Basque coach transformed the Cherries into one of the most exciting teams to watch in the Premier League, also guiding them to their first-ever European competition – the Europa League this season.
The expectations would be much higher at the most successful club in England, Iraola will also have to juggle multiple competitions as Liverpool will also play in the Champions League along with domestic competitions. Iraola’s success at Liverpool would also need the backing of the club in the transfer market as they are looking to replace key departures this summer.
Manchester City | Enzo Maresca
Manchester City were probably the biggest losers this summer in terms of managerial departures as their decade long partnership with their legendary manager Pep Guardiola ended with him leaving the club this summer. Before leaving though, he ensured City didn’t go another season trophyless by winning both the League Cup and the FA Cup in 2025/26. Manchester City decided to replace Guardiola with former Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca who joined the Cityzens on a three-year contract.
Maresca has coached at the Etihad before though he was part of Pep Guardiola’s coaching team in the 2022/23 season as an assistant-coach. Previously, he also coached their Elite Development squad, also helping them win the Premier League 2 title in 2020.
Maresca has huge shoes to fill as Guardiola departed City after establishing them as the best club in England in the last decade, having won six Premier League titles, one Champions League title and a continental treble (2022/23) while also winning other major silverware. Guardiola not only turned City into serial winners, he dominated the league and influenced the style of play in the league.
Maresca has a massive job in his hands as he looks to retain key players and add the required players to ensure quality squad depth. Like any top club, the expectations at Man City are extremely high and going trophyless would be treated as a failure by both their fans and the Man City management.
Newcastle United | Matthias Jaissle
The Magpies are another club that has announced a new head-coach as replacement for the outgoing Eddie Howe. Howe also brought success to Newcastle, winning them their first trophy (League Cup 2024/25) in four decades and guided them to Champions League football twice during his tenure. However, Howe apparently decided to part ways due to conflict over key player departures.
Howe’s successor Matthias Jaissle was appointed as the Newcastle United head coach in August, 2026 on a four-year contract. 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, especially back-to-back AFC Champions League elite titles with Al-Ahli. Although he hasn’t played in a top European league, he has experience of dealing with both youth talent and superstars.
Jaissle has a massive responsibility as the Newcastle fans are a passionate lot that take their football seriously. With key players like Anthony Gordon, Bruno Guimarães and Sandro Tonali leaving the club this summer, Jaissle needs genuine backing of the higher-ups in the transfer market to guide a transitional Newcastle United back in European spots.
Nottingham Forest | Oliver Glasner
Nottingham Forest’s case has been quite curious to say the least. The Tricky trees had hired Vitor Pereira in February 2026 after sacking three managers in the 2025/26 season and he ensured Forest was saved from relegation. According to the BBC, Forest fired him in June, 2026 just before a contractual clause increasing his compensation was due to take effect. It was shocking as Pereira was completely unaware and blindsided, 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 to take charge at the City Ground. Glasner was onboarded as the Nottingham Forest head-coach on 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 club 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 European club, having brought European success to his previous two clubs. It remains to be seen if he receives backing from the Forest management in bringing the kind of signings they need to secure a European spot next season.
Ipswich Town | Gary O’Neil
Ipswich Town has been promoted to the Premier League for the 2026/27 season. Under surprising circumstances though, their head-coach Kieran McKenna decided to part ways with the club after getting the club promoted. The real reasons are not known but McKenna had apparently decided to step aside from football management for a while.
Ipswich Town appointed former Strasbourg manager Gary O’Neil as their manager on a three-year deal. McKenna has achieved success in terms of promotion with Ipswich Town, getting them promoted three out of four years. O’Neil has coached in the Premier League twice before with Bournemouth and Wolverhampton Wanderers and may be aware of the difficulty. Hence, his job would be to ensure Ipswich can remain in the Premier League and not suffer another instant drop to the Championship like the previous seasons when they earned promotion.
Knowing the challenge of sustaining Premier League football, Ipswich would need to strengthen their squad to ensure O’Neil has a fair chance of keeping their top-tier status alive.
