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Over the past decade, there has been a growing trend of young football managers coaching on the biggest European stages. As Sir Matt Busby once said, "If you're good enough, you're old enough." This iconic quote is being applied to prodigal intellectual football minds who are arguably better off in the managerial hot-seat than on the pitch.
Young football managers have taken the European football leagues by a storm this season
Sometimes young footballing careers end early due to catastrophic injuries or other reasons. Many such players devote their post-retirement lives to football management. The passion and drive to be a part of this beautiful game does not stop on the pitch. This sheer dedication to football leads people to begin their coaching careers comparatively young.
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On that note, let’s take a look at five of the best young managers under 40 in world football right now:
#5 Matthias Jaissle
The youngest manager on this list, the 33-year-old German, was given the reins of Red Bull Salzburg at the start of the season. Jaissle, the player, was made a regular starter by coach Ralf Rangnick at TSG Hoffenheim in the 2005-06 season. The team got promoted to the German Bundesliga after just two seasons.
However, after a career plagued with devastating injuries, he had to hang up his playing boots at the mere age of 26.
Post retirement, the German went on to become the head coach of the U18 Red Bull Football Academy. After managing at the youth level, the German was finally given his first senior-team management role at FC Liefering. Jaissle had a win percentage of 64.71 in the second-tier Austrian Bundesliga team.
He was subsequently promoted to Red Bull Salzburg in the 2021-22 season.
The Red Bull team are flying high under his leadership, being 17 points clear of second-place Wolfsberger AC in the Austrian Bundesliga. The Salzburg club also shocked FC Bayern Munich after securing a 1-1 draw in the first leg of UEFA Champions League Round of 16.
#4 Rúben Amorim
Ruben Amorim's transfer as manager of Braga to Sporting CP became the third most expensive managerial switch of all time. He was signed in 2019 for a deal worth €10 million. The 37-year-old Portuguese manager ended Sporting CP's 19-year wait for a league title, completing the domestic double in the 2020-21 season.
Only a week older than Cristiano Ronaldo, he is already being touted as the best Portuguese manager since Jose Mourinho in the early 2000s. Amorim made 154 appearances for SL Benefica, winning the Primeira Liga three times.
With his playing career ending prematurely due to a career-ending ACL injury, aged 32, the Portuguese international shifted his focus to management.
Amorim was appointed as Braga B's coach in 2019, and in just four months, he was promoted to head coach of the first team. Under Amorim's first game in-charge, Braga destroyed Belenenses SAD 7-1 away. Three weeks later, they won the Taca da Portugal against Porto.
After this followed the blockbuster move to Sporting CP, where he won the manager of the season in 2021.
#3 Wayne Rooney
Manchester United's all-time top scorer Wayne Rooney is performing a footballing miracle managing Derby County FC in the EFL Championship. They were given a 21-points deduction at the start of the season for violating EFL financial regulations. Despite that, the Derbyshire-based club somehow have a fighting chance to avoid relegation.
Under the Englishman's composed and organized leadership, Derby County have refused to give up on staying in the Championship this season. The team's mentality is a testament to Rooney's playing career, a hardworking player known for never giving up easily. Since November, the Rams have earned a total of 24 points out of a possible 45, with seven wins and three draws.
The 36-year-old rejected Everton's approach in January to become the manager of his boyhood club this season. He stated that his loyalties lie with the relegation battle at Derby. If the Rams avoid relegation at the end of the season, Rooney's first full season as manager will be one for the history books.
#2 Mikel Arteta
The former Spain international has always had his critics, first during his playing days and now managing days for Arsenal. But as of February 2022, the Gunners have a realistic chance to play in the UEFA Champions League next season. They are four points off fourth place with three games in hand under Arterta's leadership this season.
After winning back-to-back trophies in the FA cup and the FA Community Shield, Arteta had a successful beginning to the managerial life at Arsenal. But his bright start fizzled out in his first full season where Arsenal finished eighth in the Premier League.
Putting the failures of the 2020-21 season behind, the 39-year-old has finally formulated a squad which he can call his own. The likes of Martin Odegaard proved that Arteta has revolutionized the transfer policy at Arsenal, preferring promising youth over experience.
The claim was further solidified by the 39-year-old sanctioning the departures of Mesut Ozil and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
#1 Julian Nagelsmann
Arguably managing the biggest club on this list, Julian Nagelsmann's momentous rise to fame has caught the eye of the entire footballing world. The German burst onto the scene as the youngest manager in the history of the Bundesliga.
The then 28-year-old Nagelsmann took charge over 1899 Hoffenheim. The club were 17th and had dug deep into the relegation zone. The German led his team to seven victories out of the final 14 games of the season, driving them to safety. With the positive momentum of the 2015-16 season, the club finished a historic fourth in the 2016-17 season qualifying for the UEFA Champions league.
Nagelsmann later went on to manage RB Leipzig for a period of two years where he had a win percentage of 56.84. Finally, Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich came calling, and the 34-year-old German manager was instated as the head coach of the Bavarian club this season.
