Sir Alex Ferguson is the outstanding manager in Premier League history, having won a record 13 titles with Manchester United during the competition’s first two decades.
Only four managers have won the Premier League more than once since its formation in 1992, making title success an obvious starting point for any ranking. But longevity, influence, consistency and the circumstances of each manager’s achievements also shape the debate.
David Moyes, for example, has managed 755 Premier League matches – more than all but Arsene Wenger (828) and Ferguson (810). His 291 wins, collected during spells with Everton, Manchester United, Sunderland and West Ham, rank third behind Wenger’s 476 with Arsenal and Ferguson’s 528 with Manchester United.
Pep Guardiola is close to Moyes’ win total despite having managed fewer than half as many matches. Harry Redknapp is fourth for appearances, with 641, fifth for victories, with 236, and is also among the top five managers for goals scored, with 818.
Mauricio Pochettino also deserves recognition. The Argentine led Tottenham Hotspur to their highest Premier League finish, 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 to have won more than half of his games without claiming the title.
However, the final 10 is restricted to managers who have won the Premier League. That leaves 13 title-winning bosses competing for 10 places.
Arne Slot of Liverpool is the first to miss out, while Manuel Pellegrini and Antonio Conte are also omitted. Pellegrini’s Manchester City record was impressive before he was replaced by Guardiola. His average of 1.92 goals per match, accumulated across three years at City and 17 months at West Ham, ranks fifth among managers with at least 100 Premier League games.
But a major spending programme at West Ham was followed by a poor run of results. Pellegrini, known as the Engineer and the only manager from outside Europe to win the title, therefore misses the cut. Conte’s successful but unstable spells at Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur were not enough to earn him a place either.
The top 10
10. Carlo Ancelotti – title winner 2009-10
Carlo Ancelotti has won domestic league titles with AC Milan, Bayern Munich, Paris St-Germain, Real Madrid and Chelsea. He has also won the Champions League five times.
His time in the Premier League was brief but highly successful initially. Ancelotti won the title in his first season at Stamford Bridge, with Chelsea completing their campaign by beating Wigan Athletic 8-0.
The following January, he signed Fernando Torres from Liverpool for a British record fee. Chelsea finished runners-up in Ancelotti’s second season and he was then dismissed.
The Italian later returned to England with Everton, where he delivered consecutive mid-table finishes before Real Madrid came calling.
9. Mikel Arteta – title winner 2025-26
Mikel Arteta became the 13th manager to win the Premier League earlier this year and the first Arsenal boss to do so since Arsene Wenger in 2004.
His success ended an eight-year sequence in which Manchester City or Liverpool had won the trophy. Arteta also overcame criticism of Arsenal’s occasionally robust style and suggestions that the club were destined to remain runners-up.
As the only current Premier League manager to have won the title, Arteta could climb this ranking in future, particularly with Arsenal strengthening an already impressive squad this summer.
8. Roberto Mancini – title winner 2011-12
Few title wins have been more dramatic than Manchester City’s in 2011-12. Two goals in added time on the final day, including Sergio Aguero’s 94th-minute winner, secured City’s first top-flight title for more than 40 years and denied their city rivals Manchester United.
Mancini had replaced Mark Hughes in December 2009 and began City’s new era by winning the FA Cup in his first full season. The Premier League title followed, although he was sacked the next summer.
The Italian ranks fourth for points per game among managers with at least 100 Premier League matches, just ahead of Conte and Jose Mourinho. He also has the fifth-best win percentage.
Mancini’s Manchester City team recorded 0.83 goals conceded per game, the best figure in the relevant statistics, while also ranking among the top five for goals scored per match.
7. Kenny Dalglish – title winner 1994-95
Kenny Dalglish had already enjoyed outstanding success at Liverpool before the Premier League began, winning three titles in four seasons before leaving in February 1991 after almost 15 years at the club.
Eight months later, he took charge of second-tier Blackburn Rovers and guided them into the Premier League through the play-offs. Supported financially by local businessman Jack Walker, Blackburn signed Alan Shearer from Southampton for a British record £3.6m.
Rovers finished fourth and then 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 clubs.
He could not repeat that feat at Newcastle United, although the club finished runners-up in both the league and FA Cup during his time there. Dalglish later returned to Liverpool, winning the League Cup before leaving in 2012 after an eighth-place finish.
6. Claudio Ranieri – title winner 2015-16
Claudio Ranieri’s place is secured by one of the greatest achievements in football history: guiding Leicester City to the Premier League title despite pre-season odds of 5,000-1.
Ranieri transformed a group of unfancied players into champions and became the figure most closely associated with Leicester’s remarkable triumph.
More than a decade earlier, he had also taken Chelsea to second place in 2004, finishing behind Arsenal’s unbeaten Invincibles side. Backed by the first wave of Roman Abramovich’s spending, Ranieri also came close to a Champions League final, with Chelsea losing to Monaco in the semi-finals.
That defeat became an important moment in the club’s history because it helped shape the appointment of the manager who replaced him.
5. Jurgen Klopp – title winner 2019-20
Jurgen Klopp created an intensely energetic Liverpool team that won the club’s first Premier League title and ended a 30-year wait for a league championship in 2019-20.
Liverpool collected more than 90 points in three separate seasons but had to contend with an exceptional Manchester City side. Without Guardiola’s team competing in the same era, Klopp’s Liverpool could have dominated English football even more completely.
Klopp’s achievements included turning Liverpool into a consistent force at the top of the Premier League, although the competition from City limited his title haul to one.
4. Jose Mourinho – title winner 2004-05, 2005-06 and 2014-15
Jose Mourinho arrived at Chelsea shortly after leading Porto to a remarkable Champions League triumph and introduced himself as the ‘Special One’.
Taking over from Ranieri and supported by a series of major signings, Mourinho won the title in his first season. Chelsea finished 12 points clear, conceded only 15 goals and established themselves as a powerful new force under his leadership.
Mourinho retained the title the following season, but tensions developed and he left in September 2007. He returned to Chelsea six years later after winning league titles in Milan and Madrid, and secured a third Premier League crown in his second season back.
That spell also ended early, with Mourinho gone by Christmas of the following campaign. He subsequently had high-profile periods at Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur, although neither matched his success at Chelsea.
He is one of only three managers to win successive Premier League titles. Ferguson achieved that feat twice with three consecutive titles on each occasion, while Guardiola won four in a row.
3. Arsene Wenger – title winner 1997-98, 2001-02 and 2003-04
Arsene Wenger narrowly ranks above Mourinho, with his greatest achievement providing the decisive edge.
The Frenchman arrived at Arsenal from Nagoya Grampus Eight in Japan and was initially regarded as an unusual appointment. He modernised the club and guided them to titles in 1998, 2002 and 2004.
The 2003-04 campaign remains his defining achievement. Arsenal became the only Premier League team to complete a season unbeaten, earning the enduring title of the ‘Invincibles’.
Wenger did not win another league title during the 14 years that followed, which slightly complicates his legacy. Nevertheless, the Arsenal side he constructed during his first decade in England was among the finest in Premier League history.
2. Pep Guardiola – title winner 2017-18, 2018-19, 2020-21, 2021-22, 2022-23 and 2023-24
Pep Guardiola changed the way English football was played, influencing the game from the elite level down to grassroots football. His emphasis on possession and building from the back helped make it increasingly common to see even Sunday League goalkeepers involved in constructing attacks.
There were initial doubts over whether the approach he had developed at Barcelona would succeed in the more physical English game. Manchester City also backed Guardiola heavily in the transfer market, but the results were extraordinary.
City won six Premier League titles during his decade in charge and became the first English men’s team to win four consecutive league championships. They also reached 100 points in 2017-18.
Guardiola’s record places him second, although his six titles remain seven behind Ferguson’s total.
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 and 2012-13
Ferguson dominated the opening two decades of the Premier League and repeatedly rebuilt Manchester United while keeping them at the summit of English football.
His teams included the side built around Eric Cantona, the 1999 Treble winners and, later, the attacking trio of Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tevez.
United continued to win trophies after Ronaldo left for Real Madrid in 2009 and Tevez moved across Manchester. Ferguson remained in charge until retiring in 2013, ending with 13 Premier League titles.
That remains the record for any manager in the history of England’s men’s top flight, not merely the Premier League. Guardiola, Liverpool’s Bob Paisley and George Ramsay of Aston Villa are next with six titles each.
Ferguson’s record, longevity and ability to renew Manchester United’s success make him the clear number one.
