The summer of 2016 saw perhaps the highest turnover of high-profile managers that European football has ever seen.
The Premier League saw the biggest changes: Jose Mourinho returned to England to replace Louis van Gaal at Manchester United and, in doing so, reignited his rivalry with Pep Guardiola who began his reign at Manchester City. Chelsea added their own big name in the dugout, Antonio Conte arriving after quitting the Italy national team, and it was also a time of change for Liverpool ahead of Jurgen Klopp’s first full campaign in charge.
It was a similar story at Real Madrid, where Zinedine Zidane was still getting used to life as his old club’s head coach having taken over just a few months earlier. His former mentor, Carlo Ancelotti, stepped into Guardiola’s shoes at Bayern Munich, while Europa League winner Unai Emery left Sevilla for Paris Saint-Germain. Adding to the churn, Roberto Mancini exited Internazionale on the eve of the new Serie A season, replaced by Frank de Boer, while Vincenzo Montella also arrived at the San Siro as Milan’s new coach.
Maybe there was something in the European air that summer, an atmosphere of change that forced clubs’ hands, causing a domino effect involving several of the continent’s biggest clubs – or maybe it was simply a coincidence.
Football is ready for a new coaching heavyweight to emerge and, this month, we’ve taken a closer look at who that might be
Whatever it was
