Who are the best Premier League managers of all time?

Only four managers have won the Premier League more than once, while 13 bosses have lifted the trophy since the competition began in 1992.

But silverware is not the only measure of managerial greatness. Longevity, consistency, win percentage, points records, tactical influence and the ability to build teams capable of competing at the very highest level all have to be considered.

That leaves plenty of room for debate over who makes the top 10 and, perhaps more importantly, where they should sit.

What makes a great Premier League manager?

Longevity is certainly worth considering. David Moyes has taken charge of 755 Premier League games, with only Arsene Wenger (828) and Sir Alex Ferguson (810) managing more.

Moyes also has the third-most Premier League wins, with 291 across spells at Everton, Manchester United, Sunderland and West Ham. Wenger recorded 476 wins at Arsenal, while Ferguson won 528 during his time at Manchester United.

Pep Guardiola is already close behind Moyes despite having managed barely half as many matches.

Harry Redknapp sits fourth for Premier League games managed with 641, while his 236 wins rank fifth. He is also fifth for goals scored by his teams, with 818.

Win percentage provides another useful measure. Mauricio Pochettino deserves particular attention here. The Argentine guided Tottenham to their best-ever Premier League finish of second in 2016-17 and also managed Southampton and Chelsea.

Among managers to have taken charge of more than 100 Premier League matches, Pochettino is the only one who has never won the title while still recording a win percentage above 50 per cent.

Ultimately, however, winning the Premier League is a significant part of the equation.

Thirteen managers have done so, meaning three title winners miss out on this list.

Arne Slot, who led Liverpool to the title, is one of those left outside the top 10. Manuel Pellegrini and Antonio Conte are also unfortunate omissions.

Pellegrini’s Manchester City record was impressive before he made way for Guardiola. Across his three years at City and 17 months with West Ham, his average of 1.92 goals per game ranks fifth among managers with at least 100 Premier League matches.

His spell at West Ham ultimately ended badly despite significant spending, however, leaving the Chilean just outside the top 10.

Conte also enjoyed spectacular highs and difficult lows during spells with Chelsea and Tottenham. Ultimately, both are edged out by the only manager to have won league titles in all five of Europe’s major leagues.

10. Carlo Ancelotti

Premier League title: 2009-10

Carlo Ancelotti has won domestic league titles with AC Milan, Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid and Chelsea, while his five Champions League triumphs underline his extraordinary record at the very top of the game.

His Premier League career has been relatively brief, though.

Ancelotti won the title in his first season at Chelsea, producing a remarkable campaign at Stamford Bridge. His second season ended without another league triumph and, after Chelsea signed Fernando Torres from Liverpool for a then-British record fee in January, Ancelotti was dismissed at the end of the campaign.

He later returned to England with Everton, guiding them to successive mid-table finishes before Real Madrid came calling once again.

Ancelotti’s achievements across Europe are difficult to overlook, but his relatively limited Premier League longevity keeps him at 10.

9. Mikel Arteta

Premier League title: 2025-26

Mikel Arteta became the 13th manager to win the Premier League and the first Arsenal boss to lift the trophy since Arsene Wenger in 2004.

His title also ended an eight-year period in which Manchester City or Liverpool had won the Premier League.

Arteta had faced questions over Arsenal’s style of play and whether the club would remain perennial runners-up after repeatedly coming close to the title.

Those doubts were finally put to bed with a title-winning campaign.

As the only current Premier League manager on this list to have won the title, Arteta has the opportunity to climb significantly higher in the years ahead. Arsenal’s already strong squad has also been strengthened further, giving the Spaniard the platform to add to his achievements.

For now, his relatively short tenure at the top means ninth feels appropriate.

8. Roberto Mancini

Premier League title: 2011-12

Few Premier League title victories have been as dramatic as Roberto Mancini’s triumph with Manchester City in 2011-12.

City appeared to have surrendered the title on the final day before two goals in stoppage time, including Sergio Aguero’s famous 94th-minute winner, turned the game around and delivered the club’s first top-flight championship in more than 40 years.

Mancini had already helped establish City’s new era by winning the FA Cup in his first full season after replacing Mark Hughes in December 2009.

The Premier League title followed, although Mancini was dismissed the following summer.

His overall numbers still stand up impressively. Mancini has the fourth-best points-per-game record among managers to have overseen at least 100 Premier League matches and sits just above Antonio Conte and Jose Mourinho.

He also has the fifth-best win percentage, while his Manchester City side averaged 0.83 goals conceded per game, the best record among the managers in this ranking.

7. Kenny Dalglish

Premier League title: 1994-95

Kenny Dalglish had already established himself as one of English football’s greatest managers before the Premier League even existed.

At Liverpool, he won three league titles in four seasons before leaving the club in February 1991 after almost 15 years as a player and manager.

Eight months later, Dalglish took charge of Blackburn Rovers in the second tier and immediately guided them into the Premier League via the play-offs.

With backing from local businessman Jack Walker, Blackburn signed Alan Shearer from Southampton for a British record £3.6m.

Rovers then finished fourth and second before finally going one step further in 1994-95, beating Manchester United to the title.

Dalglish became only the fourth manager to win the English top flight with two different clubs.

His later spell at Newcastle did not produce another title, although the club finished runners-up in both the league and FA Cup during his tenure. His second stint at Liverpool ended in 2012 after League Cup success and an eighth-place Premier League finish.

His pre-Premier League achievements are enormous, but his title with Blackburn still earns him a place in the top seven.

6. Claudio Ranieri

Premier League title: 2015-16

Claudio Ranieri’s place among the greatest Premier League managers is impossible to separate from one of the most remarkable title victories in football history.

Leicester City had been priced at 5,000-1 to win the Premier League before Ranieri turned a group of unfancied players into champions.

The Italian’s “Dilly ding, dilly dong” personality became synonymous with the extraordinary campaign, but his managerial record goes well beyond that single season.

More than a decade earlier, Ranieri had come close to winning the Premier League with Chelsea.

Backed by the first major wave of spending under Roman Abramovich, Ranieri guided Chelsea to second place in 2003-04, finishing behind Arsenal’s unbeaten champions.

Chelsea also reached the Champions League semi-finals that season, where they lost to Monaco.

That campaign ultimately became the end of Ranieri’s Chelsea tenure, but his later success at Leicester ensured his place in Premier League history.

5. Jurgen Klopp

Premier League title: 2019-20

Jurgen Klopp transformed Liverpool into one of the Premier League’s most formidable sides.

His football was intense, aggressive and relentlessly energetic, while his connection with Liverpool supporters helped create one of the defining managerial eras in the club’s history.

The major frustration for Klopp was the presence of Manchester City.

Liverpool amassed more than 90 points on three occasions under the German, yet only won the Premier League once.

That title finally arrived in 2019-20, when Liverpool ended a 30-year wait for the English top-flight championship and won the Premier League for the first time.

Klopp’s Liverpool were repeatedly pushed to extraordinary levels by Guardiola’s Manchester City, making his achievements all the more impressive.

One Premier League title may appear modest compared with some of the names above him, but the consistency of his Liverpool side and the standard required to compete with City make Klopp a clear top-five choice.

4. Jose Mourinho

Premier League titles: 2004-05, 2005-06, 2014-15

Jose Mourinho arrived at Chelsea as the “Special One” after guiding Porto to a remarkable Champions League triumph.

He immediately delivered on his promise.

Taking over from Claudio Ranieri and backed by a host of new signings, Mourinho led Chelsea to the 2004-05 Premier League title by 12 points.

Chelsea conceded just 15 goals throughout the campaign, setting a remarkable defensive standard while establishing themselves as the dominant force in English football.

Mourinho retained the title the following season before his relationship with the club deteriorated and he departed in September 2007.

He returned to Chelsea six years later after winning league titles in Italy and Spain and added a third Premier League crown in 2014-15.

That second spell ended by Christmas of the following campaign, while subsequent periods at Manchester United and Tottenham failed to match his extraordinary success in west London.

Nevertheless, Mourinho’s impact on Chelsea and the Premier League as a whole was immense.

3. Arsene Wenger

Premier League titles: 1997-98, 2001-02, 2003-04

Arsene Wenger’s arrival at Arsenal helped usher in a new era for the Premier League.

The Frenchman was initially viewed as an unconventional appointment after arriving from Japanese club Nagoya Grampus Eight, but he quickly transformed Arsenal both on and off the pitch.

Wenger won his first Premier League title in 1997-98, followed by another in 2001-02.

Then came the defining achievement of his Arsenal career.

The 2003-04 Gunners went the entire Premier League season unbeaten, becoming the only side to complete an unbeaten campaign in the competition’s history.

That team remains one of the greatest sides the Premier League has produced.

Wenger was unable to win another title during the following 14 years of his Arsenal tenure, which perhaps prevents him from taking the top spot. His influence on English football, however, extended well beyond his three championships.

He helped modernise the game in England and built one of the Premier League’s most celebrated teams.

2. Pep Guardiola

Premier League titles: 2017-18, 2018-19, 2020-21, 2021-22, 2022-23, 2023-24

Pep Guardiola has fundamentally changed the way football is played and coached in England.

His possession-based approach, built around playing out from the back and controlling matches through the ball, has influenced teams across the football pyramid.

There were initial questions over whether the style that had brought Guardiola so much success at Barcelona would translate to the more physical demands of English football.

Those doubts did not last long.

Backed heavily in the transfer market, Guardiola built Manchester City into the dominant side of the Premier League era, winning six titles during his decade in charge.

City became the first English men’s side to win four consecutive league titles, while Guardiola’s team also became the first to reach 100 points in a Premier League season in 2017-18.

His trophy haul is extraordinary and his influence on English football is undeniable.

Yet there is still one manager above him.

1. Sir Alex Ferguson

Premier League titles: 1992-93, 1993-94, 1995-96, 1996-97, 1998-99, 1999-2000, 2000-01, 2002-03, 2006-07, 2007-08, 2008-09, 2010-11, 2012-13

The Manchester United manager won 13 Premier League titles and repeatedly rebuilt his squad to keep the club at the summit of English football.

From the emergence of Eric Cantona to the Treble-winning side of 1998-99 and, later, the attacking trio of Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tevez, Ferguson continually found ways to evolve his team.

Even after Ronaldo left for Real Madrid in 2009 and Tevez moved across Manchester, Ferguson continued winning trophies.

His final Premier League title arrived in 2012-13, his 13th, before he retired at the end of the season.

That record remains unmatched.

Ferguson’s 13 Premier League titles are more than twice as many as any other manager has won in the competition. Pep Guardiola, Liverpool’s Bob Paisley and George Ramsay of Aston Villa are next on six English top-flight titles.

The scale of Ferguson’s longevity, success and ability to rebuild Manchester United makes him the standout manager of the Premier League era.

Premier League managers FAQs

Who has won the most Premier League titles as a manager?

Sir Alex Ferguson has won the most Premier League titles, with 13 titles during his Manchester United career.

Which manager has the most Premier League wins?

Sir Alex Ferguson has the most Premier League victories, with 528 wins as Manchester United manager.

Which manager has managed the most Premier League games?

Arsene Wenger has managed the most Premier League matches, with 828 appearances in the competition. Sir Alex Ferguson managed 810, while David Moyes has 755.

Can I book Premier League hospitality with Eventmasters?

Yes. Eventmasters offers a range of official Premier League hospitality packages, subject to availability, giving supporters the opportunity to watch selected fixtures with premium seating and hospitality included.