Ranking 5 best managers aged below 40 in world football right now
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.
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.
Matthias Jaissle out there with the drip 😎
#UCL https://t.co/0ncIOGC8Mr
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.
Welcome, Rúben Amorim! 🤝🦁 https://t.co/UKMvtOxujo
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.