Top 10 football managers who transformed their clubs in 2025
The job of a football manager is not just crucial, but also very challenging. Taking charge at a new club is even tougher, as they need to adapt to new players, unfamiliar surroundings, and a different club culture.
At elite clubs, the pressure intensifies even more, as the expectations from the club and fans are such that they need to provide positive results right from the get-go, with very little room or patience for failure. Some managers exceed expectations and lead their teams to success, while others end up making matters even worse.
Here, we present our picks for the top ten men’s football managers or head coaches who transformed their clubs in 2025.
10. Eder Sarabia | Elche CF
Eder Sarabia played a massive role in getting Spanish club Elche promoted from the Segunda Division to LaLiga. Sarabia had been a part of Quique Setién’s coaching staff at Las Palmas, Real Betis, and Barcelona. His first senior managerial position came in 2021 with FC Andorra.
After getting the sack by Andorra — also a Segunda Division club — in March 2024 after a poor run of form, Sarabia was appointed as Elche boss ahead of the 2024/25 season. Just one year into the job, the 45-year-old helped Los Franjiverdes gain promotion to LaLiga, ending the season two points behind leaders Levante. His side was also the best defensive unit in the division.
Elche’s performances in LaLiga this season have so far taken everyone by surprise. They ended September unbeaten in seven games, which earned Sarabia the league’s Manager of the Month award. Elche are currently sitting eighth in LaLiga, ahead of big-name sides like Athletic Club, Sevilla, and Real Sociedad.
It’s never easy for a new manager to take charge of a side in a lower tier. To not only get them promoted at the first time of asking, but also make them top-half contenders in the top flight the very next season, shows Sarabia’s quality as a coach and his ability to make his side punch above their weight.
9. Régis Le Bris | AFC Sunderland
Frenchman Régis Le Bris joined Sunderland as head coach ahead of the 2024/25 season in English football’s second tier, the EFL Championship. He led the Black Cats to a fourth-place finish in the Championship, ending the regular season with five losses in their last five league games. However, they did end up returning to the Premier League after a hiatus of eight years by beating Sheffield United in the play-off final, thereby becoming the third team alongside Leeds United and Burnley to make it to the Premier League for the 2025/26 season.
Le Bris oversaw a massive influx of players ahead of his side’s first Premier League season in eight years, a move that has worked wonders for the Wearside club. After nine league games, Sunderland sit pretty in third place with five wins, two draws, and two defeats. They’ve impressed with their style of play and bravery even against the league’s very best teams.
So far, Le Bris’ Sunderland have shown that they are here to stay and can compete with the top-tier teams.
8. Liam Rosenior | RC Strasbourg Alsace
Having been sacked by Hull City after failing to take them into the Championship play-offs in the 2023/24 season, Liam Rosenior was appointed as the manager of Chelsea’s sister club, Strasbourg, who mutually parted ways with Patrick Vieira after finishing in 13th place in Ligue 1 the previous season.
Since joining the club in the 2024/25 season, Rosenior has successfully implemented his coaching philosophy in the dressing room. His ability to work with young players and develop older players resulted in Strasbourg ending the season in a respectable seventh position and qualifying for European football (UEFA Conference League).
Strasbourg have started the 2025/26 season in an impressive manner as well and are currently sitting two points behind league leaders Paris Saint-Germain in fourth place after ten games.
Rosenior’s style of management has impressed many in England, and a move to a Premier League club could be on the cards next year if he does the unthinkable and brings Champions League football to the Stade de la Meinau.
7. Sébastien Pocognoli | Royale Union Saint-Gilloise
Ligue 1 side Monaco appointed Sébastien Pocognoli as their head coach last month, though it was his stint with Belgian champions Union Saint-Gilloise that put him on the radar of many elite clubs.
Pocognoli was appointed as USG head coach ahead of the 2024 season after impressing with their U21 team. What followed thereafter was the stuff dreams are made of. The 38-year-old guided them to a third-place finish in the league behind Genk and Club Brugge. His side then went unbeaten in the Championship play-offs, winning nine of their ten games. Union SG then secured the title in thrilling fashion with a famous 3–1 win over Genk on the final day.
This was an incredible achievement for the club, who became Belgian Pro League champions after 90 years. They dethroned Club Brugge, who had won four of the last five Belgian top-flight titles. In doing so, Pocognoli also guided Union to their first-ever Champions League qualification.
In the 2025/26 season, Pocognoli has left Union in good stead. Les Unionistes are top of the Belgian Pro League table after 12 games. Though it remains to be seen how his attacking brand of football shapes the young and talented Monaco side, his transformation of Union Saint-Gilloise was definitely one of the stories of the year.
6. Antonio Conte | SSC Napoli
Antonio Conte is a highly experienced manager and has plied his trade at massive clubs like Juventus, Chelsea, and Inter Milan. Currently, he’s coaching another Italian side, Napoli.
After an unsuccessful stint at Tottenham Hotspur, Conte left the club by mutual consent in March 2023. Having had success in Serie A, he was appointed by Napoli in June 2024. He went on to lead the Partenopei to their fourth Scudetto in his very first season. This earned him a nomination for the Men’s Coach of the Year award at the 2025 Ballon d’Or ceremony.
Conte isn’t an all-out attacking manager; he has a pragmatic approach to playing football, with defensive solidity being a hallmark of his style. Over the course of the 2024/25 season, he improved a lot of players in his side, Scott McTominay being a prime example of that. From being unwanted at his former club, Manchester United, the Scotsman became the most valuable player in Conte’s title-winning side in less than a year.
Napoli’s title run-in with Inter was a thrilling affair. It went down to the last day of the season, with the Nerazzurri having led the race for the majority of the business end. Napoli grabbed the Scudetto with consistent performances in the latter half of the season, which also showcased Conte’s ability to handle intense pressure.
Napoli’s start to the 2025/26 season has been great so far, as they are leading the way in Serie A after nine rounds of fixtures. Conte has definitely done a massive transformational job with a side that had ended the season before his arrival in tenth place. To lead them to a league title in his very first season deserves a lot of praise and credit.
5. Enzo Maresca | Chelsea FC
Enzo Maresca was hired by Chelsea ahead of the 2024/25 season, having impressed the powers that be at Stamford Bridge during his time at Leicester City, whom he got promoted to the Premier League during the 2023/24 season by winning the EFL Championship.
Maresca took charge of a young and inexperienced Chelsea squad but started to work his magic right away. The Italian guided the Blues to their first Champions League qualification in three years and also won them two big trophies by going all the way in the UEFA Conference League and the revamped FIFA Club World Cup.
Maresca instilled a winning mentality in the Chelsea squad and made them a difficult team to face, with their attack causing opponents a lot of problems. For a team that had been struggling for identity in the previous few seasons and failed to qualify for Champions League football, which is the bare minimum for a club of their stature, as well as a tournament they won as recently as 2021, Maresca has not only made Chelsea competent enough to get closer to the Premier League summit, but he has also enabled them to perform well in cup competitions and win silverware.
4. Vincent Kompany | FC Bayern Munich
The Manchester City legend was a surprise choice for the head coach role at an elite club like Bayern Munich, especially after his mixed-bag stint at Burnley. He had helped the Clarets get promoted from the Championship but couldn’t sustain the same quality in the Premier League and went back down after one season.
However, Kompany has done wonders with the Bavarian club, leading them back to the Bundesliga summit after Bayer Leverkusen took the crown the season before. He also guided Bayern to the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League and the FIFA Club World Cup.
Since arriving at the Allianz Arena, Kompany has added more fluidity and control to the team. He has also made vital additions to his squad that have further enhanced their team’s performances.
While a lot of ex-players and football pundits questioned his appointment, Kompany has answered all his critics in the most potent way — by winning trophies. This season, Bayern are once again leading the Bundesliga table as well as looking very dangerous in the Champions League.
3. Arne Slot | Liverpool FC
When Jürgen Klopp decided to part ways with Liverpool at the end of the 2023/24 season, the club were left with some huge boots to fill. To everyone’s surprise, they decided on Feyenoord boss, Dutchman Arne Slot, to replace the mighty German.
Having won an Eredivisie title with Feyenoord, Slot opted to avoid making wholesale changes to the Liverpool squad in his first season and work with the personnel Klopp left behind. Right away, Slot brought a lot of control to the team through different possession-based football compared to Klopp’s heavy-metal approach.
In his very first season, Slot led Liverpool to their 20th English top-flight title. Liverpool also topped the league phase table of the UEFA Champions League and reached the Carabao Cup final in his first season. The Reds strolled to the Premier League title in style with four games to go, with challengers Arsenal and Manchester City failing to cope with their consistency.
With the current season being a transitional one, with many new faces coming in, Liverpool are going through a blip in form, though there is great belief in and around Anfield that Slot can definitely turn his team’s fortunes around get them back to their best. Few expected him to have the kind of instant impact that he did, and at a club of the stature of Liverpool, in the toughest league in the world, it was a transformational job second to none.
2. Hansi Flick | FC Barcelona
After moving away from Bayern Munich, Hansi Flick felt like a surprise appointment at Barcelona ahead of the 2024/25 season. However, the German coach introduced an exciting brand of football that made Barça an absolute joy to watch. Though the Blaugrana often don’t look in control defensively, their attacking players lead the way, winning games by big margins.
The Catalans cruised to the Spanish top-flight title in style, as rivals Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid failed to cope with their intensity and attacking prowess. Not only did Flick lead Barça to winning LaLiga, he also utilised young players from the club’s famed academy, La Masia, in his squad to great effect, guiding the team to a domestic treble that included, apart from LaLiga, triumphs in the Copa del Rey and the Spanish Super Cup as well. Barcelona also did well in the UEFA Champions League, reaching the semi-finals.
Barcelona started this season well, though they have faltered slightly due to massive injury issues and are currently in third place in LaLiga, eight points behind leaders Real Madrid with a game in hand. However, Flick is a superb tactician, and with much of the season still left to play, Barça will definitely challenge Real Madrid for the league title.
What makes Flick’s achievements unbelievable is that, even though he wasn’t able to get many new players in due to the financial restrictions at the club, the 60-year-old still managed to utilise the existing squad and young La Masia talent to win silverware this year. Contrary to popular belief, given even Barça fans weren’t sure whether he would fit in, Flick has answered all his critics in fitting manner.
1. Luis Enrique | Paris Saint-Germain FC
The definitive coach of the year has to be Luis Enrique, who has done a massive transformational job at Paris Saint-Germain.
Enrique was appointed PSG head coach in the summer of 2023. The first task that awaited him in Paris was getting rid of the superstar syndrome that had plagued the club for most of the last decade and making them play as a collective. PSG were dominating Ligue 1 season in, season out, but it was the Champions League where they just couldn’t go all the way and would falter against one elite European side or another.
Enrique changed all that. In 2024/25, Les Parisiens went on to have an unprecedented season under him, winning a continental treble that saw them finally clinch the Champions League trophy alongside the Ligue 1 and Coupe de France titles. He also led them to the final of the revamped Club World Cup in the summer, where they lost to Chelsea.
This season, PSG are once again dominating teams in the French top flight while blowing oppositions away in the Champions League. Currently, they are the team to beat in all of Europe. Enrique has not only instilled into the team his style of attacking football, but has also improved and developed talented players into world-beaters.
From a side that struggled to compete with Europe’s elite, PSG have now been transformed into one of the most lethal units that can destroy even the best of oppositions. The most refreshing aspect about Enrique’s style is that, barring a few players, he doesn’t believe in acquiring big names. He brought several players to the Parc des Princes who didn’t really come in with a burgeoning superstar reputation like their predecessors, though through success on the pitch they are slowly gaining a reputation as some of the absolute best in their positions. Nuno Mendes, Achraf Hakimi, Vitinha, and João Neves are excellent examples of Enrique’s ability to develop and improve players.
Not only did Enrique help PSG win silverware, for his achievements this year, he was also unanimously awarded the Coach of the Year trophy at the 2025 Ballon d’Or ceremony. Rightfully, he has earned his spot as the men’s football coach who had the biggest transformative impact at his club this year.
