In recent years, the Spanish and German leagues have had an advantage over the Premier League in terms of blockbuster names. The momentum might be about to swing.
Yet it’s not with players like Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi the Premier League currently boasts, rather some of the world’s premier managers.
Long gone are the days where a Ronaldo lined up in the Premier League each week along with the likes of Luis Suarez and Gareth Bale. All of these names departed for Spain and the Premier League’s top teams have suffered as a result.
But looking ahead into the 2016/17 season, we may now get to see one of the biggest heavyweight battles of managers the Premier League has ever seen, and with these coaches taking the reigns of some of England’s top clubs, we may finally see the return of some of Europe’s best players. Let’s take a look at the coaches.
The new boys
Pep Guardiola: Guardiola joins the Premier League after success with both Barcelona and Bayern Munich. He joins Manchester City with two Champions League titles, three La Liga honors, three Bundesliga titles and three Copa del Rey trophies.
City are getting one of the world’s premier coaches, and who knows which big names he could draw to the club? City certainly have the resources to compete.
Antonio Conte: Conte doesn’t enter the league with the same pedigree as Guardiola, at least not yet, but he is viewed as one of the best young coaches in the game. Chelsea have tasked Conte with the job of resurrecting the 2014/15 Premier League winners. He brings experience from time as boss of Juventus and the Italian national side with him.
The returning giants
Jose Mourinho: Mourinho is expected to be back, this time with Manchester United. After being sacked by Chelsea just months after winning the Premier League, Mourinho looks set to return with a vengeance. Mourinho once battled with Sir Alex Ferguson for the title, now he looks set to try and replicate his success in Manchester.
Assuming Mourinho signs as expected, we’ll see him clash with Guardiola for Manchester honors each year.
Jurgen Klopp: Klopp is one of the best young coaches in the game and is looking to bring success back to Liverpool. He won two Bundesliga titles with Borussia Dortmund, and is a Champions League and Europa League runner-up. He will look to guide Liverpool back into the title picture.
Arsene Wenger: Wenger has been under fire for the past few years, but he has helped ensure Arsenal are ever-presents in the Champions League. They are the only team in the league to secure Champions League qualification each year since 1998-99. He has three Premier League titles and six FA Cups to his name.
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Claudio Ranieri: Ranieri deserves to be in this category after what he achieved at Leicester. The former Chelsea boss guided the 5000/1 Foxes to a stunning Premier League title and will be attempting to defend the title.
The emerging stars
Mauricio Pochettino: Pochettino lacks the pedigree of the other names on this list, but he is largely considered to be a star in the making. He helped turn Southampton from a team battling relegation to one vying for Europe, and has since led Tottenham to their highest Premier League finish of third, firmly in a title race.
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Ronald Koeman: Koeman took over Pochettino’s job with Saints and had to weather the storm of losing valuable assets. He’s done an incredible job guiding Southampton to sixth, their highest ever finish in the Premier League era, on the cusp of something special. Assuming he stays, he will once again be amongst the top managers in the league.