When it comes to ranking managers, titles are a good place to start.
Only four bosses have won more than one since the Premier League era began in 1992. So if you do some quick maths, you’ll probably not be surprised by the names that top this list according to BBC Sport.
But there is a debate to be had around where they should rank, and who else makes it into the top 10. So let’s have it.
You can rank your greatest managers of the Premier League era below too.
A question of longevity?
Longevity deserves a mention here. Take David Moyes, for example, racking up 755 games in Premier League dugouts – only Arsene Wenger (828) and Sir Alex Ferguson (810) have more.
Naturally, Moyes has the third-most wins in Premier League history too, although his 291 across spells with Everton, Manchester United, Sunderland and West Ham fall some way short of Wenger’s 476 at Arsenal and Ferguson’s 528 at United.
Pep Guardiola is also on Scotsman Moyes’ shoulder despite managing barely half as many games.
Harry Redknapp has the fourth-most games under his belt (641), fifth-most wins (236) and also completes the top five for goals scored (818).
We should talk about win percentage too, and the former Tottenham manager who really deserves a shout here is Mauricio Pochettino, who guided Spurs to their best-ever Premier League finish of second in 2016-17 and also coached Southampton and Chelsea.
The Argentine is the only manager – of those who have coached more than 100 games – to have not lifted the title yet still won more than half his games throughout his Premier League career.
But really, to make this list, you have to have won a Premier League title. In total, 13 managers have done so. Meaning three are getting left at the door.
Arne Slot of Liverpool is the first to be cut. The others are a hard choice.
Manuel Pellegrini’s Manchester City record was impressive before the Chilean made way for Guardiola. During those three years, plus 17 months at West Ham, his average of 1.92 goals per game ranks fifth among all managers with a century of matches.
But he spent big at the Hammers only to then endure a desperate run of form – so the man known as the Engineer, the only manager from outside Europe to win the title, misses out.
As does Antonio Conte, who had boom and bust spells at Chelsea and Spurs.
Instead, the pair are pipped by the only boss to win the title in all of Europe’s top five leagues.
1. Sir Alex Ferguson
Title winner: 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 first two decades of the Premier League were largely dominated by one man.
Sir Alex Ferguson won 13 titles and continually rebuilt his Manchester United side to maintain the club’s position at the top of English football. His teams evolved from the era of Eric Cantona and the 1999 Treble winners to the attacking trio of Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tevez.
Even after Ronaldo moved to Real Madrid in 2009 and Tevez switched to Manchester City, Ferguson continued to deliver league titles until his retirement in 2013.
His 13 Premier League titles remain a record and are more than double the tally of any other manager in English men’s top-flight history. Pep Guardiola, Liverpool’s Bob Paisley and George Ramsay of Aston Villa are next with six each.
Ferguson is therefore the clear number one.
2. Pep Guardiola
Title winner: 2017-18, 2018-19, 2020-21, 2021-22, 2022-23, 2023-24
When it comes to managers who have transformed English football, few can match Pep Guardiola’s influence from the elite level down to grassroots football.
The Catalan coach has even been credited with influencing the way Sunday League goalkeepers play out from the back.
There were initially questions over whether his possession-based philosophy, developed at Barcelona, would succeed in the more physical Premier League.
Guardiola received significant backing in the transfer market, but his Manchester City team went on to win titles at an extraordinary rate.
City became the first English men’s side to win four consecutive Premier League titles, while Guardiola collected six league trophies during his decade in charge. His team also reached the 100-point mark in 2018.
3. Arsene Wenger
Title winner: 1997-98, 2001-02, 2003-04
There is little separating Arsene Wenger and Jose Mourinho, with both managers helping to usher in new eras in the Premier League.
Mourinho once described Wenger as a “specialist in failure”, but the Frenchman gets the edge here because of his achievement with Arsenal’s unbeaten 2003-04 side.
Wenger arrived from Japanese club Nagoya Grampus Eight and was initially viewed as an unusual appointment. He subsequently transformed Arsenal’s approach and guided the club to Premier League titles in 1998, 2002 and, most famously, the unbeaten campaign of 2003-04.
His inability to win another league title during the following 14 years may slightly affect his legacy, but the Arsenal side he built during his first decade remains one of the greatest teams in Premier League history.
4. Jose Mourinho
Title winner: 2004-05, 2005-06, 2014-15
Still fresh from his famous touchline sprint at Old Trafford, Jose Mourinho arrived at Chelsea shortly after leading Porto to an unexpected Champions League triumph and introduced himself as the “Special One”.
Taking over from Claudio Ranieri and backed by a series of major signings, Mourinho guided Chelsea to the title in his first season. The Blues finished 12 points clear, conceded just 15 goals and established themselves as a dominant force.
Mourinho repeated the achievement 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, securing a third Premier League crown during his second season back before leaving the club the following campaign.
His later spells at Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur were significant, but neither matched the success he enjoyed at Stamford Bridge.
5. Jurgen Klopp
Title winner: 2019-20
Jurgen Klopp’s Premier League career can in some ways be compared with Andy Murray’s tennis journey: high-intensity performances, enormous popularity among supporters and remarkable success despite facing an exceptional rival.
In this comparison, Manchester City represent Klopp’s generation of elite opponents, particularly Pep Guardiola.
Liverpool accumulated more than 90 points on three occasions under Klopp but won just one Premier League title, in 2019-20. That triumph was particularly significant as it ended Liverpool’s 30-year wait for a league title and delivered their first Premier League crown.
6. Claudio Ranieri
Title winner: 2015-16
“Dilly ding, dilly dong.”
Ranieri enters the top six largely because of one of the greatest achievements in Premier League history: leading Leicester City to the title against odds of 5,000-1.
The Italian transformed a group of players considered outsiders into champions and became the manager behind one of football’s greatest underdog stories.
However, Ranieri had already come close to winning the Premier League more than a decade earlier. With Chelsea benefiting from the first major wave of Roman Abramovich’s spending, he guided the club to second place in 2004, behind Arsenal’s Invincibles.
Chelsea also reached the Champions League semi-finals that season, where they were eliminated by Monaco.
7. Kenny Dalglish
Title winner: 1994-95
Kenny Dalglish achieved his greatest success as Liverpool manager before the Premier League era, winning three league titles in four seasons before leaving the club in February 1991 after nearly 15 years.
He joined Blackburn Rovers eight months later and immediately guided them into the Premier League through the play-offs.
With financial backing from businessman Jack Walker, Blackburn signed Alan Shearer from Southampton for a British-record £3.6 million. The club then finished fourth and second before defeating Manchester United to win the title in 1995.
Dalglish became only the fourth manager to win the English top flight with two different clubs.
He was unable to replicate that success at Newcastle, although the club finished runners-up in both the league and FA Cup during his tenure. His second spell at Liverpool ended in 2012 after League Cup success and an eighth-place league finish.
8. Roberto Mancini
Title winner: 2011-12
“Agueroooo!” remains one of the defining moments in Premier League history.
Few title victories have been as dramatic as Manchester City’s 2011-12 triumph, secured by two stoppage-time goals on the final day, including Sergio Aguero’s famous 94th-minute winner.
The victory delivered City’s first top-flight title in more than 40 years while denying their city rivals Manchester United.
Mancini had started City’s new era by winning the FA Cup in his first full season after replacing Mark Hughes in December 2009. He followed that with the Premier League title before being dismissed the following summer.
His statistics also remain impressive. Mancini has the fourth-best points-per-game record among managers who have managed at least 100 Premier League matches and ranks fifth for win percentage.
9. Mikel Arteta
Title winner: 2025-26
Earlier this year, Mikel Arteta became the 13th manager to win the Premier League and the first Arsenal manager to achieve the feat since Arsene Wenger in 2004.
He also ended an eight-year period in which Manchester City or Liverpool had won the Premier League title.
Arteta overcame criticism surrounding Arsenal’s playing style and questions over whether the Gunners would always finish as runners-up.
As the only current Premier League manager to have won the title, and with Arsenal strengthening an already impressive squad during the summer, Arteta could climb higher on this list in the future.
10. Carlo Ancelotti
Title winner: 2009-10
Carlo Ancelotti has guided AC Milan, Bayern Munich, Paris St-Germain, Real Madrid and Chelsea to domestic league titles, while also boasting a record five Champions League triumphs.
However, his first spell in the Premier League was relatively brief.
The Italian won the Premier League at the first attempt with Chelsea. But after the club signed Fernando Torres from Liverpool for a then-British record fee the following January, Ancelotti was dismissed after Chelsea finished runners-up in his second season.
He later returned to England as Everton manager, guiding the club to successive mid-table finishes before Real Madrid came calling.