Several football managers under 40 have stolen the spotlight and even gained success in the Europe top five leagues.
Football manager is one main career option for the former players or even anyone with a football passion to work in the football industry. Today, it seems to be one of the most wanted jobs, despite its high risk and pressure. In the past few years, there have been more and more managers under 40 in the European top leagues compared to ten years ago. This has seemingly been a new trend. In fact, at least one boss in the top five leagues this season is still under 40 years old.
Players who are still active today but have already determined to become a manager later have even already taken coaching courses. Manchester City’s Kevin de Bruyne is one of them. The Belgian international passed the UEFA A Coaching License, the second tier in the course, in 2022.
What’s even more surprising is that he was not the only one. His teammates in the Belgium national team, such as Youri Tielemans, Jan Vertonghen, Axel Witsel, Leandro Trossard, Dedryck Boyata, Dennis Praet, Dries Mertens, Simon Mignolet, and Matz Sels, have completed the course too. They all joined the program run by the Belgian FA. They could be following Vincent Kompany’s footsteps, who has been handed over a job in the big team at Bayern Munich this season.
The former centre back is one of the promising young football managers under 40 today. Despite failing to save Burnley from relegation, Kompany still attracts Bayern management to use his service. Die Roten is currently on top of the standings with four points clear from the reigning Bundesliga champion, Xabi Alonso’s Bayer Leverkusen.
The most decorated managers under 40 today are undoubtedly Ruben Amorim. The newly appointed Manchester United boss has clinched two league titles plus two Portuguese Cup trophies with Sporting Lisbon, plus another domestic cup for Sporting Braga in 2020. He is now facing a challenging job to lead The Red Devils’ rise after the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson. Such is a huge task that even top gaffers like Jose Mourinho and Dutch manager Louis Van Gaal were not able to do.
Here are the other football managers under 40 who have proven their quality in leading the teams at the top level.
The current Lens boss is still 32 years old but has already experienced taking charge of Ligue 1’s Reims for two seasons from 2022 to 2024. The Belgian-English boss has been an interim manager in Belgian sides Lierse and Beerschot before moving to France.
Will Still became the media sensation when he was appointed as a head coach in Reims following the five-match unbeaten streak in the 2022/23 campaign at the age of 30 without even having a UEFA Pro License qualification. This led to the fine for his team for letting him be in charge of the first team for a while. The gaffer, who has been inspired by EA’s Football Manager Game, was even able to lead his team to stay undefeated in the following 12 games, a new record in the French top division. Sadly, he still could not guide them to finish higher than 11th in both campaigns.
Still eventually left Reims on mutual consent and was named Lens boss last summer to replace Franck Haise. His team is currently sitting seventh in the standings.
The Italian manager then switched sides to Ligue 1 as he was named OGC Nice boss in summer 2023. Once again, Farioli brought them to finish fifth in the final standings. The former goalkeeping coach under Roberto de Zerbi in Benevento and Sassuolo is making his way to the Netherlands to inspire the Amsterdamers’ return to their glory days. Farioli could be snatching his first trophy, should he succeed in securing some titles with the Eredivisie powerhouse.
The current Brighton boss is one of the most widely discussed football managers under 40 today after he signed for The Seagulls. He has become the youngest manager in Premier League history. At the age of 31, younger than some senior players on his team, most notably James Milner, Hürzeler’s record has been fairly impressive so far. Lewis Dunk and Co. have been unbeaten with four wins and three draws in the first seven games, including a famous 2-1 victory over Manchester United on match week two. His team also managed to stun Spurs and Manchester City this season.
The Seagulls’ move to be Roberto De Zerbi’s successor is considerably bold. The Texas-born gaffer has yet to take charge of any teams in the top flight. His only experience in the dugout was with FC St. Pauli in Bundesliga 2. He was at the helm of the club from December 2023, initially as a caretaker before being promoted as the head coach. Surprisingly, he was able to lead the team back to the top division last season. It was their first return to the Bundesliga since 2011.
Hürzeler’s unique tactical approach seems to be the key in attracting Brighton’s management. It is the combination of Jurgen Klopp’s counterpressing and De Zerbi’s playing-out-the-back. No wonder that the transition in The Seagulls this season has been quite seamless.
The current German national team boss is definitely one of the best managers under 40 in Europe today. Nagelsmann’s silverware might not be as many as Ruben Amorim’s, but that does not change the fact that the former Hoffenheim boss was probably the first well-known young gaffer in the Europe major leagues.
Julian Nagelsmann began his tenure in February 2016 as Huub Stevens’ successor and instantly managed to keep his team safe from relegation. In the following season, the German boss, who was still 28 years old, was able to guide Hoffenheim to finish fourth to secure one spot in the UCL qualifying phase. It was also their debut in UEFA’s continental top-flight competition. In 2017/18, Nagelsmann even led to third place in the Bundesliga and qualified for the Champions League group stage directly.
His next club was RB Leipzig, where he stayed for two seasons. Nagelsmann even brought them to advance to the UCL semifinal in the 2019/20. Although he failed to deliver any trophies, his tactical acumen definitely attracted Bayern, who signed him in 2021. Nagelsmann’s only titles were with Die Roten as they won the Bundesliga in 2022, plus two DFB Supercups. Unfortunately, he was dismissed in the middle of 2022/23 due to series of poor results before taking charge of Die Mannschaft ahead of EURO 2024.
