Guardiola, Mourinho, Allegri: Europe's Biggest Managerial Reshuffle in a Decade

Four of Europe’s five biggest leagues began 2026-27 with new men in the most scrutinised jobs in the game. Taken together it is the largest single-summer turnover at elite level in roughly a decade — and the early results say almost nothing about any of it.

Who moved where

England. Pep Guardiola left Manchester City; Enzo Maresca took the job. Xabi Alonso is at Chelsea, Andoni Iraola at Liverpool, Matthias Jaissle at Newcastle United (Wikipedia).

Spain. José Mourinho is the Real Madrid manager, replacing Álvaro Arbeloa. Edin Terzić took over at Athletic Bilbao from Ernesto Valverde. Valencia dismissed Carlos Corberán in mid-September — the season’s first sacking in the division (Wikipedia).

Italy. Massimiliano Allegri moved from AC Milan to Napoli; Rúben Amorim replaced him at Milan. Bologna changed manager twice inside the opening month, and Fiorentina also made an early change (Wikipedia).

Germany. Martín Demichelis at RB Leipzig, Carles Martínez Novell at Bayer Leverkusen, Adi Hütter returning to Eintracht Frankfurt, Mauro Lustrinelli at Union Berlin (Wikipedia).

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The pattern underneath the names

Three distinct kinds of appointment are visible, and they behave differently.

The succession. Maresca at City follows the most successful manager in the club’s history. These appointments are judged against a memory rather than against a table, which is why they rarely survive a second bad autumn regardless of the first one.

The restoration. Mourinho at Real Madrid and Hütter at Frankfurt are returns to clubs that already know the manager. The upside is instant authority; the risk is that the squad that suited the manager the first time no longer exists.

The lateral move between rivals. Allegri to Napoli and Amorim to Milan swapped two managers between clubs competing for the same places. Italy’s top two after four rounds are Roma and Inter, both on 12 points — neither of the reshuffled clubs.

Why September tells you nothing

There is a well-documented shape to managerial change: a short results bounce driven by novelty and effort, then a dip when the squad meets a system it was not recruited for, then — if the manager survives — a slow correction as the transfer windows do their work.

The bounce typically covers the first four to eight matches. Every result quoted above falls inside that window. The first genuinely diagnostic period runs from late October to the winter break, once fixture congestion, European travel and the first injury cluster arrive together.

Bologna changing manager twice in a month is the exception that proves it — that is not a bounce fading, that is a club that did not get its first decision right.

The one exception worth watching

Manchester City and Arsenal are both on 12 points from four. If Maresca’s City are still level with Arsenal at the November international break, the succession will have been managed better than almost any comparable case — Ferguson’s at United, Wenger’s at Arsenal, Klopp’s at Liverpool. That is the specific thing to watch, and the date to check it is late November, not now.

Sources

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