wicked.football

A whopping eight Premier League clubs will head into the upcoming 2026/27 season
with a new manager at the helm as some familiar faces depart the English top flight.

Pep Guardiola left Manchester City in the summer after a trophy-laden decade in
charge. Arne Slot has also departed Liverpool after a dismal title defence last term, with
the powers that be at Anfield clearly feeling that the tide had irreversibly turned on the
Dutchman. But despite a large number of clubs lining up with a new gaffer in charge
next term, it’s continuity that online betting sites clearly favour ahead of the new
campaign.

That continuity can be found at the Emirates. Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta is currently the
Premier League’s longest-serving manager, and after leading the Gunners to a first title
in 22 years last season, the Spaniard is going nowhere. The latest odds from 5Gringos
online sportsbook make the defending champions a short-priced 6/4 favourite to defend
their title next term, with both Manchester City and Liverpool trailing in their wake.

Both the Blues and the Reds have new managers heading into next season, but where
do those eight new managers rank amongst each other? Here are our power rankings
of the Premier League’s new boys.

1 – Enzo Maresca

Many Chelsea fans were stunned when Enzo Maresca left the club back in January.
The Italian was five months removed from putting the pieces back together at Stamford
Bridge after a disastrous couple of years under the likes of Mauricio Pochettino,
Graham Potter, and Frank Lampard. Victory in the Conference League and a top-four
finish seemed to indicate the Blues were on their way back to the summit of English
football, before a stunning 3-0 victory against Paris Saint-Germain in the FIFA Club
World Cup final laid down a marker to the rest of the Premier League.

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Admittedly, the start to the 2025/26 season didn’t go well, and the West London outfit
sat in fifth in the table at the time of Maresca’s departure. But it wasn’t the results that
saw him lose his job. Instead, it was the fact that he made it clear to the club that he
wanted to take over at Manchester City at the end of the season once Guardiola
departed, which put his head on the chopping block. Now, he gets his wish, and he will
be aiming to prove himself right for wanting to swap the Bridge for the Etihad. Fans are
already eagerly waiting to see how he will fare.

2 – Xabi Alonso

Xabi Alonso has since taken over at Chelsea, and he has quite the job on his hands,
much like Maresca did a couple of years ago. The Blues finished way down in tenth last
season, with injuries and out-of-form players costing the Blues dearly.
The Spaniard’s dream stint at Real Madrid lasted just six months, with Alonso being
unceremoniously dismissed after Los Blancos lost the Spanish Super Cup final to
Barcelona. However, his stint in charge of Bayer Leverkusen proves just how talented a
manager Alonso truly is.

Die Werkself were flirting with relegation from the Bundesliga when he first took over in
October 2022. Within 18 months, they were German champions for the first time in the
club’s history, claiming the Meisterschale without losing a single game, becoming the
first team in Bundesliga history to do so. They added the DFB Pokal to their haul that
season, and they very nearly claimed an invincible treble, only to lose the 2024 Europa
League final to Atalanta.

3 – Oliver Glasner

Oliver Glasner will consider himself somewhat disappointed to have not landed a bigger
job this summer. With vacancies at both Anfield and Stamford Bridge, the Austrian
would have been hopeful to have been approached for at least one of those roles.
Instead, he heads to Nottingham Forest, and he does so off the back of an incredible
two years in charge of Crystal Palace.

Prior to Glasner’s arrival at Selhurst Park, the Eagles had never won a major trophy.
Now, they have two, or perhaps even three if you want to include last season’s
Community Shield. Palace shocked the world when they won the FA Cup in 2025,
beating heavyweights Manchester City in the final. They then went on to win the
Conference League last season, beating Rayo Vallecano in Leipzig to secure the club’s
first-ever piece of continental silverware.

Before that, Glasner won the Europa League with German outfit Frankfurt, and now he
will be aiming to bring that success to the City Ground.

4 – Andoni Iraola

Andoni Iraola has never won a major piece of silverware throughout his managerial
career, and it’s exactly that which stops him from being higher on this list. He has taken
over as Arne Slot’s successor at Liverpool after a stunning three years in charge of
Bournemouth, which cannot be understated.

When the Spaniard first took charge on the South Coast, the Cherries were thought of
as a yo-yo club, often bouncing between the Premier League and the Championship. By
the time he left, the club had just secured its first ever season of continental football,
with a sixth-place finish last term sealing Europa League qualification. Not a bad
outcome by any measure.

5 – Marco Rose

Marco Rose is very much a Premier League newcomer, taking over from Iraola at
Bournemouth to manage in the Premier League for the first time. The German has
enjoyed spells in charge of some of Germany's biggest clubs, including Borussia
Dortmund, Borussia Monchengladbach, and most recently RB Leipzig.

His tenure in charge of the Red Bulls, however, did end in disappointment as Leipzig
failed to qualify for Europe for the first time since securing promotion to the Bundesliga
in 2016. He will be aiming to return to winning ways and lead Bournemouth on a
continental charge next term.

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6 – Pierre Sage

Frenchman Pierre Sage takes over at Crystal Palace for the departing Glasner, and he
will be looking to build on the good work done by the Austrian across the last two years.
The 47-year-old led Lens to a second-place finish in Ligue 1 last term, finishing just six
points behind heavyweights Paris Saint-Germain before going on to beat Nice to secure
the Coupe de France for the first time.

7 – Gary O’Neill

Gary O’Neill returns to the Premier League with newly promoted Ipswich Town after a
stint in Ligue 1 with Strasbourg. He enjoyed tenures in charge of both Bournemouth and
Wolves to varying levels of success, and he's looking to prove that he belongs as a top-
flight manager.

8 – Alvaro Arbeloa

Former Liverpool defender Alvaro Arbeloa managed at the senior level for the first time
last season, and he did so in charge of Spanish giants Real Madrid. His stint left a lot to
be desired, however, as Los Blancos finished eight points behind rivals Barcelona in the
title race after a campaign dogged by dressing room turmoil. He takes charge at a
Fulham team looking to break into the top half of the Premier League table.

The post Power Ranking Each of the Premier League’s Eight New Managers Ahead of the New Season appeared first on CaughtOffside.