It’s that time of year where Premier League clubs will be weighing up whether or not their current manager is still going to be the right man for next season.
Whether the incumbent isn’t good enough, or likely to be poached by a bigger fish, more than half of the 20 top-flight clubs have uncertain short-term futures in the dugout – so let the managerial merry-go-round commence!
Here is Daily Mail Sport’s shortlist of continental coaches that will be tickling the fancy of your club, from some household names around Europe to some who may be new to you…
1. Inigo Perez (38, Rayo Vallecano)
Do you like high-octane, pressing football? Do you fancy punching above your weight with a shoestring budget? Do you want a manager who comes from the school of Pep Guardiola, Marcelo Bielsa and Andoni Iraola?
If the answer to any or all of those questions was ‘yes’, then Inigo Perez is your man. If it were not for red tape, he would already be in England. He was lined up to be Iraola’s assistant at Bournemouth but could not obtain a work permit, so returned to Rayo Vallecano in La Liga.
Now, the club from the Madrid suburbs are flying under Perez, with a Conference League quarter-final coming up next week against AEK Athens, in only their second ever foray into European football.
‘Pressing is the best playmaker,’ said Perez, who also describes his style as ‘ordered chaos’. Given his old Athletic Club team-mate Iraola is being linked with numerous jobs, maybe he could follow him to Bournemouth or a similar-sized club.
Possible landing places: Bournemouth, Crystal Palace, Brighton.
If it were not for red tape, Rayo Vallecano boss Inigo Perez (left) would already be in England. He was lined up to be Iraola’s assistant at Bournemouth but could not obtain a work permit
2. Xabi Alonso (44, out of work, last club: Real Madrid)
The most well-known name on this list after leaving Real Madrid in January by ‘mutual consent’ – i.e. sacked after a tough spell that saw Vinicius Junior complaining about the former Liverpool midfielder’s style.
Alonso was heralded as one of the brightest coaches in the game until that rough run in the Spanish capital, where he still managed a win rate of 70 per cent. In that context, his departure feels harsh – but there were deeper issues over control and transfer policy.
The Basque-born manager earned his stripes at Real Sociedad B before joining Bayer Leverkusen in 2022, where two years ago he won the Bundesliga unbeaten as well as the German Cup, and lost the Europa League final to Atalanta in their only defeat of the season.
He also turned players like Florian Wirtz from a raw talent to a genuine superstar worth £115million and transformed Granit Xhaka into one of the best midfielders in the game.
When Jurgen Klopp left Liverpool, Alonso was instantly made the bookmakers’ favourite but it did not quite work out at the time. Two years on, with Arne Slot’s job on the line, those links have again resurfaced… but Manchester City are lurking, too, given Pep Guardiola’s uncertain future.
Possible landing places: Liverpool, Manchester City.
Xabi Alonso (left) learned from Pep Guardiola at Bayern Munich and has gone on to become one of the brightest young coaches in Europe – will he now replace his old teacher at Man City?
3. Francesco Farioli (36, Porto)
With five games to go in the Dutch top flight last season, young Farioli’s Ajax were nine points clear. Fast forward a month and PSV Eindhoven were lifting the Eredivisie trophy.
It is the biggest embarrassment of the Italian’s career but that is the only blot on his CV so far. Indeed, after that disappointment, you would expect Farioli, 36, to have been hounded out. Anything but.
He was lauded by the famous ultras at the arena named after the greatest visionary in football history, Johan Cruyff. They knew that despite the ultimate choke, Farioli had taken a club in disarray much further than they deserved to go and he said he had no regrets.
‘I would love to have a regret or to say, “f***ing hell we should have done something more”, but we squeezed everything,’ he said, later adding: ‘The feeling and the connection I have with this group of people goes somewhere else, over the line of professional.’
He joined Porto instead, with Ajax saying they were ‘extremely grateful’ to him. The Portuguese club are now runaway league leaders with a Europa League quarter-final to come against Nottingham Forest. Ajax, meanwhile, are fourth, 20 points behind leaders PSV. Back in the mess they were before Farioli took over.
What makes him so special? Aside from the 49 points from 51 in the first half of the season, his Porto team has been splendid to watch and he is a true student of the game, having written an academic paper titled Philosophy of the Game: The Aesthetics of Football.
‘Here in Porto, I truly believe there is something more and something deeper in terms of connection,’ he said in January when linked with top jobs – and he has also extended his contract until summer 2028. But if the big names come calling…
Possible landing places: Chelsea, Manchester United.
Francesco Farioli has been almost unstoppable at Porto, leading the league by seven points and into the Europa League quarter-finals
4. Enzo Maresca (46, out of work, last club: Chelsea)
Maresca was no saint at Chelsea and fell out with the hierarchy there, but look at the club’s record under Liam Rosenior since. A respected young coach, Rosenior is still struggling, which perhaps makes the job Maresca did look even better in hindsight.
As does Marc Cucurella’s quote this week on the Italian’s exit: ‘The moment Maresca left, it had a big impact on us. These are decisions taken by the club. If you asked me, I would not have made this decision.’
A FIFA Club World Cup win, including thumping the European champions Paris Saint-Germain in the final, should also not be downplayed.
City have already had informal contact with him as they look for Pep Guardiola’s eventual successor, and Maresca will certainly be in the conversation for the top jobs this summer.
Possible landing places: Manchester City, Manchester United.
Marc Cucurella has broken cover to say he was unhappy with the sacking of Enzo Maresca this season
5. Cesc Fabregas (38, Como)
There are plenty of Davids toppling Goliaths around Europe this year, from Hearts’s Scottish Premiership title charge to Bodo/Glimt’s Champions League run – but do not forget Como’s rise in Italy.
There is no doubt significant financial backing has helped but this team were in Serie D, the fourth tier, as recently as 2019. Now they are fourth in the top flight and on the verge of qualifying for the Champions League.
They have won their last five games, with a 2-0 triumph at Juventus in that run. They host leaders Inter in a fortnight in what will be a true test of how far this daring side has come.
Fabregas, the World Cup-winning ex-Arsenal, Barcelona and Chelsea midfielder is the mastermind behind Como’s rise and the best compliment one can pay him is that he has seemingly rattled the established coaches of Italy. Gian Piero Gasperini, the overachieving ex-Atalanta man now at Roma, snubbed a handshake and Max Allegri has called him a ‘child’ and ‘idiot’.
Why are they so disgruntled? Maybe it lies in the fact that Fabregas is already one of the best in Italy right now. Listen to the 38-year-old speak and you can see he knows what he is talking about. Como’s president talks about making the club ‘a brand like Disney’ and Fabregas’s rise is a fairytale that is only just beginning.
Possible landing places: Chelsea, Manchester United.
Cesc Fabregas is one of the biggest rising stars in European football and is already ruffling feathers in Serie A
6. Claudio Giraldez (38, Celta Vigo)
Celta Vigo are disrupting the established order in La Liga for a second successive season under young coach Giraldez, who stepped up from their B team in 2024 to replace Rafael Benitez.
He has since been described as ‘the anti-Benitez’ and player Borja Iglesias said: ‘Claudio has changed my life.’ Many feel the same. They are daring to dream now in Vigo, not just by Giraldez letting his players enjoy football but warning them ‘not to be the donkey I was’ – having failed to make the grade at either Real or Atletico Madrid in his playing days.
Celta finished seventh last season, are sixth this campaign, and are also in the Europa League quarter-finals where they will face Freiburg.
Giraldez has two degrees, sports science and journalism, and has described himself as a bit of a geek who learned to read and write with Don Balon magazine and football stickers.
Possible landing places: Crystal Palace, Bournemouth.
Celta Vigo are disrupting the established order in La Liga for a second successive season under young coach Claudio Giraldez
7. Sebastian Hoeness (43, Stuttgart)
Stuttgart were bottom of the Bundesliga when Hoeness took over. Three years later he has turned them into a Champions League club.
Having won Germany’s third tier with Bayern Munich’s reserve team, he got the Hoffenheim job in the top flight and then moved on to Stuttgart, first saving them from relegation before finishing second in the Bundesliga in his first full campaign.
They regressed to ninth last season after losing top scorer Serhou Guirassy to Borussia Dortmund but are now third again and on track to get back into the Champions League. They then lost another star man, Nick Woltemade, last summer, but have thrived instead thanks to strong showings from former Premier League players Bilal El Khannouss and Deniz Undav.
Hoeness comes from the traditional German school and has been compared to Hansi Flick, while his uncle is Uli Hoeness, who won the 1974 World Cup, played in the great Bayern Munich teams of the 1970s and went on to be their president.
Possible landing places: Manchester United, Aston Villa, Chelsea.
Sebastian Hoeness (centre, with microphone) took Stuttgart from bottom of the Bundesliga all the way to the Champions League
8. Kjetil Knutsen (57, Bodo/Glimt)
For the last three or so years, Knutsen has been linked with pretty much every mid-table Premier League job – at least by the bookies. But how many of you actually knew anything about him until this year?
Having led Norwegian champions Bodo/Glimt to wins over Manchester City, Inter (twice), Atletico Madrid and Sporting (3-0 in the Champions League last 16 first leg before running out of steam in the second), the team from the Arctic Circle are one of the stories of the season.
To use his own words, they are just ‘a team from a small town up north’ and Knutsen is the mastermind behind it all. High intensity, passing through the lines, belief in their talent, Bodo/Glimt have it all – and he won’t go under the radar any more this summer.
Possible landing places: Brighton, Crystal Palace, Bournemouth.
Kjetil Knutsen’s Bodo/Glimt have been one of the stories of the season, taking down Man City and Inter Milan on their way to the Champions League last 16
9. Robbie Keane (45, Ferencvaros)
The former Leeds, Tottenham, Liverpool, Aston Villa and Republic of Ireland striker is certain to be on the list of many Premier League sides this summer, while another former club in Celtic are also circling.
The 45-year-old, who won 146 caps for his country, was a left-field choice for Hungarian champions Ferencvaros after just a year at Maccabi Tel-Aviv and spells as assistant at Middlesbrough and Leeds.
But he is flying in Hungary and perhaps held back in European competition by a rule that states that five Hungarians must be on the pitch at all times in domestic games, hampering their ability to sign the best talents from around the world.
Robbie Keane’s stock is rising after a successful two seasons in Hungary
Their performances in those competitions are turning heads, though, despite their last-16 Europa League exit. His Ferencvaros side beat Rangers earlier this season with a team assembled at a cost of just £6.4m – much to the delight of Celtic fans, of course.
Possible landing places: Celtic or Premier League clubs willing to have a punt.
Others to keep an eye on…
Pierre Sage, who has led Lens to just a point behind Paris Saint-Germain in Ligue 1 in just his second job, and Mikel Arteta’s former assistant Carlos Cuesta, just 30 and head coach at Serie A side Parma, are also worth a mention.
Austrian Christian Ilzer has impressed at Hoffenheim in the Bundesliga, while Cristian Chivu is flying at Inter and will surely be in the conversation for big jobs in the coming years.
