The summer brought many managerial changes, but there are still managers looking for work and teams that need a change as we approach the business end of the 2024/25 campaign. So, we present the top 10 best available managers right now…
Top 10 best available managers – our picks
1) Zinedine Zidane
As strange as it sounds for a man with three Champions League and two La Liga titles on his managerial honour roll, Zinedine Zidane is still something of an unknown quantity for all but one club. The Real Madrid job is such a unique one that it is hard to predict how he would fare in another environment.
Zidane’s greatest skill is his ability to manage big personalities in a colossal dressing room and keep them motivated—he reportedly left most of the coaching and tactical decision-making to his staff and extraordinarily gifted and experienced players. Zidane is part of an elite club of managers who have had enormous success on the pitch and in the dugout, ranking alongside the likes of Johan Cruyff and Franz Beckenbauer.
According to reports in France, some players in the senior men's national team, including superstar Kylian Mbappe, have grown fed-up of head coach Didier Deschamps and his methods. They are pushing for French legend Zidane to replace him despite a three-year managerial absence, while he was also linked with the Manchester United job after the departure of Erik ten Hag, which has since gone to Ruben Amorim.
More recent reports have claimed that Zidane has agreed to become the next head coach of France after Deschamps' tenure ends. The current manager of the national team has even approved of his next potential successor.
2) Xavi
Xavi is a relatively young manager compared to some of the others on this list, but that does not mean that he is not capable of taking another big job. Indeed, after winning multiple trophies in Qatar with Al-Sadd, he took on the role of managing his beloved boyhood club FC Barcelona.
Xavi won the La Liga title and Spanish Super Cup in the 2022/23 season, but Barca struggled in the following campaign. Nonetheless, his progressive style of play should see him have plenty of suitors in the modern game.
3) Edin Terzic
High on this list is Edin Terzic, who left his post as Borussia Dortmund boss in the summer after guiding them to the most recent UCL final, where they lost out 2-0 to Real Madrid at Wembley Stadium. He was also unlucky not to win the Bundesliga title in the 2022/23 season, being pipped by Bayern Munich on the final day
Yes, winning trophies is arguably the most important thing in football, but Terzic was so close on both occasions. To even compete with the likes of Real and Bayern, who are bigger clubs with much greater finances than Dortmund, is a testament to how good of a coach he is, as he gets the best out of his players more often than not.
His credentials had seen him linked with the Manchester United job, before Amorim was confirmed to take the reins at Old Trafford, while he was also reportedly been put on standby to potentially replace Julen Lopetegui at West Ham United before Graham Potter ended up doing so.
Most recently, Terzic has been linked with potentially replacing Ange Postecoglou at Tottenham Hotspur, with the Aussie under pressure as Spurs linger in the bottom half of the table in the Premier League.
4) Massimiliano Allegri
For eight years of the last decade, Max Allegri was at the helm of Italian giant Juventus, with a two-year break between 2019 and 2021. The first stretch of the Italian's time in Turin was phenomenal, as he won five straight Serie A titles and reached two Champions League finals.
His return after that period of absence was less fruitful. He failed to reclaim the Serie A title and came under serious scrutiny for his football conservatism, which many argue held back the Old Lady's attackers.
Allegri had been linked with the Manchester United job, while AS Roma also reportedly considered him before appointing Claudio Ranieri. West Ham United also reportedly showed interest in the Italian before they appointed Graham Potter instead to replace Julen Lopetegui.
5) Gareth Southgate
Gareth Southgate left his post as England manager after eight years in July 2024, doing so on a losing note, as the Three Lions fell to a 2-1 defeat to Spain in the UEFA European Championship final. England did not play particularly well throughout the tournament, but still managed to reach the final.
Although no silverware was forthcoming, that is a testament to Southgate's credentials and provides a solid reason that Manchester United strongly considered appointing Southgate before restoring their faith in Ten Hag for the start of the 2024/25 season.
6) Lee Carsley
As he was merely the interim England manager until Thomas Tuchel formally took the reins on 1 January 2025 and only manages the U21s on a permanent basis, Carsley is available for anyone who can offer the right package at senior level.
Even though he has won four out of five games in charge of England, the wins did not come against particularly challenging opposition, with a brace of wins over Finland coming after a 2-0 victory over Ireland in Dublin. To be fair, one was an impressive and important 3-0 victory in Greece, but Carsley still represents something of a gamble for any team with lofty long-term ambitions.
Sadly, there is no escaping the fact that his stock was badly tarnished by the 2-1 home loss to the Greeks, which saw his decision to deploy five attackers backfire horrendously. That said, he now has solid experience managing some big names, and it may not be long until football fans see him occupying a Premier League dugout.
7) Joachim Low
The 2014 World Cup winner is an outside pick for many roles, having not managed a club since 2004. However, given his experience with coaching and managing the many superstars Germany had during his lengthy tenure between 2006 and 2021, he could be an excellent choice as an interim manager to steady the ship at a top club.
Low is not short of willing, at least, considering he said back in 2023 that he “would like to coach a club again” and added that it would be “fun” for him. Precious few coaches can boast a World Cup on their CV, so perhaps we will see Low back in the dugout soon. He was linked with taking the England job before it was given to fellow German Tuchel instead.
8) Erik ten Hag
Ten Hag is in the list after being relieved of his duties at Manchester United and being replaced by interim head coach Ruud van Nistelrooy. Unfortunately for the Dutchman, the writing was on the wall after the Red Devils' worst-ever start to a Premier League season.
Amorim has left his previous role at Sporting CP in Portugal to replace him, so it will be interesting to see how he fares. Most recently, Ten Hag was linked with the Borussia Dortmund job, after head coach Nuri Sahin was sacked with his team hugely struggling in the Bundesliga.
9) Roberto Mancini
Manchester City fans in particular will have fond memories of Roberto Mancini, as he guided them to their first Premier League title in 2012 in dramatic fashion. He also won the league title three times in his native Italy with Inter Milan, and the UEFA Euro 2020 title with his home nation.
Mancini has also won a number of domestic cups in his managerial career and was most recently the head coach of the Saudi Arabian national team. However, it begs the question of whether he will return to club management anytime soon.
10) Sean Dyche
It may be strange to see Sean Dyche on this list as his successor at Everton, David Moyes, has started off so well that he looks to have steered them away from relegation already. Nonetheless, Dyche still possesses some qualities that would appeal to a lot of football clubs.
Indeed, he is a specialist in keeping teams on low budgets in the Premier League, as he has done so a number of times with Everton and his former club, Burnley. He even guided the latter into a spectacular European finish in one season. While his style of play may not be pleasing on the eye, he certainly knows how to grind out results.
