Record number of new managers for season like no other
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- Nine Premier League clubs are set to begin the 2026-27 season under new permanent managers, surpassing the previous opening-weekend record of eight set in 2016-17.
- Manchester City and Liverpool headline the changes, with Enzo Maresca replacing Pep Guardiola after his resignation and Andoni Iraola succeeding the sacked Arne Slot, while Chelsea appointed Xabi Alonso after Liam Rosenior's dismissal.
- Arsenal's Mikel Arteta, appointed in December 2019, is now the Premier League's longest-serving manager; for the first time since 1985-86 the league begins without Ferguson, Wenger, Mourinho, Klopp, or Guardiola in any dugout — managers who won 26 of 34 titles between them.
- Matchweek one is expected to feature three fixtures between clubs with new bosses — Fulham v Chelsea, Manchester City v Bournemouth, and Liverpool at Newcastle — with Iraola's first six league matches all coming against teams under new permanent managers.
- Manchester United's Michael Carrick illustrates the churn: he is United's seventh permanent manager since Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013 and ranks only 11th among current Premier League bosses for tenure.
- The average top-flight manager's tenure now stands at about 20 months, and only six managers — Mourinho, Ancelotti, Pellegrini, Ranieri, Conte and Slot — have ever won the title in their first season in charge of a club since the Premier League began in 1992.
Why it matters: With the architects of the Premier League's first three decades all gone from dugouts and the job's average tenure down to roughly 20 months, Arteta becomes the default favorite to join Ferguson, Mourinho and Guardiola as the only managers to successfully defend a title — while Liverpool, Manchester City and Chelsea essentially reset their projects simultaneously in the most open title race in years.
