5 best managers under the age of 40

#1 Julian Nagelsmann

Nagelsmann is the youngest coach in Bundesliga history

Age: 29

Club: Hoffenheim

Nagelsmann has been taking the Bundesliga by storm this season, with the perennially relegation-threatened Hoffenheim sitting at a lofty 3^rd on the table. When he was initially hired as the manager in February, becoming the youngest permanent coach in Bundesliga history, many in the local media dismissed it as a “public relations stunt” and “a crackpot idea.”

Yet the man nicknamed “baby Mourinho” has completely turned around fortunes at the club. When he was hired, they’d won only 2 of their past 20 games, were next to bottom of the table and 7 points from safety. They won 7 of their next 14 games to finish one point off the relegation play-off spot and in the 9 months since he took charge have scored in all but 2 of their 24 league games.

Any initial concerns have been swept away in their entirety and he has since been highly praised by the likes of Carlo Ancelotti and Dortmund boss, Thomas Tuchel; under whom he briefly played for Augsburg’s second team.

He is still a year shy of his 30^th birthday. In fact, he only turned 29 last Saturday and if he continues this current trend will probably be managing Hoffenheim in a European competition next season.

A man who cites the styles of Villareal, Barcelona and Arsenal as his influences, Nagelsmann is an astute young tactician who will no doubt be courted by bigger clubs in the coming seasons.