The summer brought many managerial changes, but there are still managers looking for work and teams that need a change with the 2025/26 campaign well underway. 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 UEFA Champions League (UCL) and two LaLiga 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.
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) Jurgen Klopp
Currently RB Leipzig's sporting director, Jurgen Klopp could be tempted back into management after most recently managing Liverpool. He guided the Reds to both the Premier League and UCL title, establishing himself as one of the world's best.
Klopp also built a reputation of himself in his native Germany with Borussia Dortmund, also winning the Bundesliga title there ahead of serial winners Bayern Munich. Klopp has recently been linked with the permanent job at Real Madrid, with interim manager Alvaro Arbeloa only in charge until the end of the 2025/26 campaign.
3) Xabi Alonso
Arbeloa replaced Xabi Alonso at the Santiago Bernabeu, after he lost the Spanish Supercoppa final 3-2 to bitter rivals Barcelona. Real Madrid have also been off the pace in both LaLiga and the UCL.
However, Alonso still has plenty of credit in the bank, having guided Bayer Leverkusen to an unexpected Bundesliga title in the 2023/24 campaign, going the whole league season unbeaten. His attractive style of play has reportedly attracted the interest of Liverpool among others.
4) 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 Barcelona.
Xavi won the LaLiga 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.
After failing to convince Barcelona’s men in charge that he had what it takes to lead Barcelona forward, he was sacked, as German mastermind Hansi Flick took over. It’s been two years since Xavi last coached, but we are convinced his managerial days are far from over.
He has been linked with moves to Manchester United and Tottenham in recent months, but a move has not materialised as of yet. Given that Ruben Amorim has now lost his job, Xavi would more than likely be interested in the hot seat at Old Trafford.
5) Enzo Maresca
Enzo Maresca's falling out with the Chelsea board means he too is without a job. The Italian learned the ropes as the assistant to perhaps the greatest manager of all time in Pep Guardiola, before becoming manager of Leicester and then Chelsea.
Maresca guided the Foxes to promotion to the Premier League from the Championship, before winning both the UEFA Europa Conference League (UECL) and FIFA Club World Cup (CWC) at Stamford Bridge. He also helped the Blues get back into the UCL, and so would be a valuable asset to a lot of top clubs.
6) Edin Terzic
Relatively high on this list is Edin Terzic, who left his post as Borussia Dortmund boss in the summer of 2025 after guiding them to the most 2024 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 Ruben Amorim was confirmed to take the reins at Old Trafford, while he was also reportedly close to becoming the Tottenham boss.
7) Ange Postecoglou
Ange Postecoglou was sacked by two different managers in the space of four months, with Tottenham letting him go in the summer before Nottingham Forest fired him after just eight matches in charge. Despite that, Postceoglou is an attractive proposition, due to his record when it comes to winning trophies – it was only last May that he ended Tottenham's trophy drought by leading them to UEFA Europa League (UEL) glory.
8) Roberto De Zerbi
After failing to replicate last season’s heroics, Marseille decided to part ways with Roberto De Zerbi by mutual consent.
Marseille struggled to mount a serious challenge for the Ligue 1 title, and a heavy 5-0 defeat against Paris Saint-Germain in the UEFA Champions League proved to be the final blow behind the club’s decision.
However, his impressive work at Brighton & Hove Albion, along with his preference for an attractive style of football, is likely to attract interest from top clubs in the near future.
9) 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. FA Cup winners Crystal Palace will also reportedly consider Southgate when Oliver Glasner expectedly leaves at the end of the 2025/26 season, as the Austrian has been linked with a potential return to Germany with RB Leipzig and also other jobs in the Premier League.
10) Brendan Rodgers
After a sticky start to the 2025/26 season, where Celtic fell behind surprising leaders Hearts in the Scottish Premiership table and failed to qualify for the UCL after being knocked out by relative minnows in Kairat, Brendan Rodgers was relieved of his duties as head coach. However, the Northern Irishman has plenty of credit in the bank.
Indeed, he won multiple trophies during his time at Celtic Park, and also brought the FA Cup to Leicester during his time in the Premier League. Rodgers was also the manager of an exciting Liverpool team that just missed out on the title to Manchester City in the 2013/14 season, and his free-flowing, attacking style of play will still attract plenty of future suitors.
