Atalanta head coach Maurizio Sarri leads with 22 clubs, eight more than Manuel Pellegrini
Coaching careers across Europe’s biggest leagues can take very different paths. Some tacticians reach their current jobs after working for clubs in several countries and competitions, while others have built their careers around only one or two senior teams.
Winsportsonline looked at the men currently in charge of all 96 clubs in the Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga and Ligue 1 as of 25 August 2026. The comparison is based on the number of different senior clubs each coach has led during his career, with separate spells at the same team counted only once.
Atalanta boss Maurizio Sarri sits well clear of everyone else with 22 different clubs. Real Betis head coach Manuel Pellegrini is next with 14, followed by Sevilla’s Luis Garcia Plaza with 13. Lyon coach Paulo Fonseca and Getafe boss Jose Bordalas have each led 12 clubs. Only 16 of the 96 coaches have reached nine different senior teams, and 13 of those 16 are now working in Italy or Spain.
Key Takeaways:
- Maurizio Sarri has led 22 different senior clubs, eight more than anyone else currently coaching in Europe’s top five leagues.
- Manuel Pellegrini is second with 14 clubs, while Luis Garcia Plaza has worked for 13.
- Only 16 of the 96 coaches have been in charge of nine or more different senior clubs.
- Serie A provides seven of those 16 names and La Liga another six, so Italy and Spain account for 13 of the 16.
- The Premier League contributes only Unai Emery and Roberto De Zerbi, both with nine clubs, while Paulo Fonseca is the only Ligue 1 coach in the group.
- No Bundesliga boss has reached nine clubs. Adi Hutter and Christian Ilzer have both led seven.
- 73 of the 96 coaches, or 76%, have worked for six different senior clubs or fewer.
- 30 have coached only one or two senior teams, including 11 whose current job is their first senior post at a different club.
- La Liga is the only one of the five competitions without a coach who has led just one senior club.
- Sarri Has Coached Eight More Clubs Than Anyone Else
Current Managers in Europe’s Top Five Leagues
With the Most Clubs Managed
Maurizio Sarri’s total of 22 different senior clubs puts him in a category of his own among the 96 coaches examined, but most of those jobs came before he established himself at the highest level. Only six of the clubs he has coached have played in a top division during his time in charge. Five are Italian sides – Empoli, Napoli, Juventus, Lazio and Atalanta – while Chelsea is his only top-flight club outside Italy. The other 16 clubs were all below the top division, stretching from Serie B and Serie C down to the amateur levels where his coaching career began.
The contrast with Manuel Pellegrini is striking. All 14 different clubs on the Chilean tactician’s career list competed in their country’s top division during his time there. His path took him from Universidad de Chile, Palestino, O’Higgins and Universidad Católica in Chile to LDU Quito, San Lorenzo and River Plate in South America, before spells with Villarreal, Real Madrid, Malaga, Manchester City, Hebei China Fortune, West Ham and Real Betis.
Luis Garcia Plaza sits between the two. Nine of the 13 different senior clubs he has coached played in the top division during his spell, including Alaves, Mallorca, Beijing Renhe and Levante, which he guided to promotion.
Serie A and La Liga Account for 13 of the 16 Coaches With Nine or More Clubs
Italy and Spain provide almost the entire group of coaches with the longest lists of clubs on their CVs. Serie A has seven head coaches who have worked for at least nine different senior teams: Maurizio Sarri, Massimiliano Alvini, Gennaro Gattuso, Luciano Spalletti, Eusebio Di Francesco, Ivan Juric and Massimiliano Allegri.
La Liga contributes six more: Manuel Pellegrini, Luis Garcia Plaza, Jose Bordalas, Quique Sanchez Flores, Benat San Jose and Jose Mourinho.
That leaves only three names from the other three leagues. Aston Villa’s Unai Emery and Tottenham’s Roberto De Zerbi have each coached nine clubs, while Lyon tactician Paulo Fonseca has led 12. The Premier League therefore supplies only two of the 16, Ligue 1 one, and the Bundesliga none.
No Bundesliga Coach Has Reached Nine Different Clubs
Germany is the only one of the five leagues without a current head coach who has worked for at least nine different senior clubs.
Adi Hutter at Eintracht Frankfurt and Christian Ilzer at Hoffenheim lead the Bundesliga with seven clubs each. Borussia Dortmund’s Niko Kovac, Mainz’s Urs Fischer, Schalke boss Miron Muslic and Augsburg coach Manuel Baum have each led five.
The difference between the leagues is considerable. The highest total belongs to Sarri in Serie A with 22, followed by Pellegrini in La Liga with 14, Fonseca in Ligue 1 with 12, Emery and De Zerbi in the Premier League with nine, and Hutter and Ilzer in the Bundesliga with seven.
How Many Clubs Have the Current Coaches in Europe’s Top Five Leagues Managed?
Sarri’s 22-club career is far removed from the experience of most of the men currently working in Europe’s five biggest leagues.
Seventy-three of the 96 coaches, or 76%, have led six different senior clubs or fewer. The largest single group contains 19 coaches who have managed exactly two clubs, while another 11 have worked for only one.
Four have led seven clubs and three have managed eight. The numbers remain small after that: four coaches have reached nine clubs, four have reached 10, three have reached 11, and only five have coached 12 or more different senior teams.
This means that only 23 of the 96 coaches have led seven or more clubs, while almost one third of the entire group have worked for no more than two.
30 Coaches Have Led Only One or Two Senior Clubs
At the other end of the comparison, 30 of the 96 head coaches have managed only one or two different senior clubs.
Eleven are currently working at the only senior club they have ever led. That group includes Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta, Brentford head coach Keith Andrews, Como’s Cesc Fabregas and Freiburg coach Julian Schuster. Another 19 have been in charge of exactly two clubs, making that the most common single total among the 96 men examined.
Germany has four coaches whose current side is the only senior club they have managed, Italy has three, while England and France have two each. Spain is the exception. Every current La Liga coach has already managed at least two different senior clubs.