Premier League Managers’ Salaries 2026: Who Earns the Most?

The money flowing through the Premier League has changed everything. Two decades ago, manager salaries were respectable but modest. Now they rival what entire squads earned in the early 2000s. The transformation mirrors the explosion in broadcast deals and commercial revenue, but also reflects something deeper: clubs finally recognize that the right manager can be worth every penny.

Pep Guardiola sits at the summit. His Manchester City contract pays around £20 million per year in base salary, with an additional £5 million available through team success bonuses.

That makes him the highest-paid manager not just in the Premier League but across world football. The figure becomes even more striking when you consider Erling Haaland earns roughly £26 million annually on his £500,000-per-week deal. Guardiola comes close to matching his star striker, a rare achievement for anyone on the touchline.

The drop-off after Guardiola tells its own story. Mikel Arteta, the second-highest-paid manager in the league, earns £10 million per year.

That represents a 50% cut from what Guardiola takes home. The gap shows how much value Manchester City places on their Catalan coach and how difficult it would be to replace what he brings.

Since arriving in 2016, Guardiola has delivered six Premier League titles, turned City into a Champions League-winning machine, and established a style of play that defines modern football. City knows that losing him would cost far more than his salary.

The Full Breakdown

Here are the estimated salaries for Premier League managers heading into the 2025/26 season:

The Middle Ground

The middle of the salary table features experienced managers earning between £3.9 million and £5 million. David Moyes returned to Everton on £5 million per year, bringing stability to a club that badly needed it.

Nuno Espirito Santo and Enzo Maresca both earn £4.5 million at West Ham and Chelsea, respectively, showing how clubs in that 7th to 12th range of the table structure their managerial budgets.

Marco Silva at Fulham and Oliver Glasner at Crystal Palace both take home £4 million. Silva has done excellent work at Fulham, keeping them comfortably in the Premier League while playing progressive football. Glasner arrived at Palace with a strong reputation from his work in Germany and Austria, and his salary reflects those credentials.

Sean Dyche’s earning £3.9 million at Nottingham Forest shows how the market values his experience and reliability. Dyche has a track record of keeping teams up and organizing defenses, skills that matter enormously for clubs fighting to stay in the division.

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The Lower End

The bottom section of the table features managers earning between £1.5 million and £2.5 million. Fabian Hürzeler at Brighton takes home £2.5 million despite being just 32 years old, which shows how highly Brighton rates his potential.

The club has a history of identifying coaching talent early, and Hürzeler fits that pattern.

Managers like Régis Le Bris, Daniel Farke, Scott Parker, Rob Edwards, Andoni Iraola, and Keith Andrews all earn between £1.5 million and £2 million.

These figures reflect where their clubs sit in the financial hierarchy. Newly promoted teams or those with smaller budgets simply cannot compete with the wages offered by European qualification contenders.

The Guardiola Effect

Comparing Guardiola to Haaland reveals how far player wages have outstripped everyone else in football. Despite being the highest-paid manager in world football, Guardiola still earns less than his Norwegian striker. Haaland takes home roughly £26 million per year on his £500,000-per-week contract.

The gap highlights a broader truth: only Guardiola among all Premier League managers earns on a similar level to the top five highest-paid players in the league.

Kevin De Bruyne, Mohamed Salah, Raheem Sterling, and Casemiro all earn more than every manager except Guardiola. That wage structure reflects how the transfer market values elite players, who can move between clubs and command enormous fees.

Managers have less leverage because clubs hire them without transfer fees and can dismiss them more easily.

Still, Guardiola’s coming close to Haaland shows his unique status. Manchester City structured its deal knowing it could not replace what he provides.

The trophies, the style, the consistency, the ability to improve players and integrate new signings seamlessly all add up to value that goes beyond what shows up in a league table.

Top Half vs Bottom Half

The financial divide becomes clearer when you split the league in half. Managers at top-10 Premier League clubs earn an average of £5 million to £6 million per year. That figure gets driven up by Guardiola, Arteta, Frank, and Emery, but even removing those outliers leaves a comfortable average well above £4 million.

The explanation comes down to European qualification. Clubs in the top half of the table either compete for Champions League places or target Europa League spots.

Those competitions bring substantial revenue through prize money, broadcast deals, and matchday income. Clubs know that getting into Europe can generate tens of millions of pounds, so they structure manager contracts with significant bonuses for achieving those targets.

Managers at bottom-10 clubs earn between £1.5 million and £3 million per year.

These teams operate with tighter budgets overall and cannot offer the same base salaries.

However, they often load contracts with bonuses for European qualification, survival, or exceeding expectations. The structure makes sense for both sides: clubs protect themselves financially while managers get rewarded for exceptional results.

This dynamic explains why successful managers at smaller clubs get poached so quickly.

A coach doing brilliant work at a bottom-half club on £2 million per year will always attract attention from teams offering £5 million or £6 million. The salary jump alone makes those moves attractive, even before considering the increased resources and better players.

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The International Factor

The table shows managers from Spain, Portugal, Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, Austria, France, and England. The Premier League has become truly international in its coaching appointments, with clubs willing to look anywhere for the right candidate.

Spanish managers occupy three of the top four spots (Guardiola, Arteta, Emery), reflecting Spain’s reputation for producing top coaching talent.

Portuguese managers feature prominently throughout the list.

The country has developed a strong coaching culture, producing managers comfortable working in different countries and adapting to various challenges. From Amorim at United to Marco Silva at Fulham and Nuno at West Ham, Portuguese coaches have found plenty of opportunities in English football.

The presence of young German coaches like Fabian Hürzeler shows how the Bundesliga’s coaching education system continues to influence European football. German tactical ideas have shaped modern football, and clubs increasingly look to Germany when searching for innovative young managers.

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Contract Length and Security

Most managers have deals running until 2027 or 2028, giving them reasonable security.

The longest contract belongs to Unai Emery at Aston Villa, whose deal runs until 2029. That length shows how committed Villa are to their project with Emery and how much faith they have in his methods.

Shorter contracts (expiring in 2026) belong to managers like Marco Silva and Oliver Glasner, suggesting clubs are keeping their options open or managers want flexibility.

In modern football, contract length matters less than it once did because clubs pay substantial compensation to remove managers they no longer want. The security comes more from performance than from contract dates.

Why Salaries Keep Rising

Several factors drive manager salaries upward. Broadcast revenue keeps growing, giving clubs more money to spend. The gap between the Premier League and other major leagues has widened, allowing English clubs to outbid rivals for the best coaching talent.

Clubs have also learned that hiring the right manager generates returns that far exceed the salary cost.

Consider what Pep Guardiola has done for Manchester City’s commercial value. The club has become a global brand, attracting sponsors and partners who want association with success.

The same applies to what Jurgen Klopp did at Liverpool before departing, or what Mikel Arteta continues building at Arsenal. These managers do not just coach the team; they become the face of the club and drive its growth across multiple areas.

The financial stakes around success have grown enormous.

The difference between finishing fourth and fifth can mean £50 million or more when accounting for Champions League revenue.

Winning the league brings prestige that translates into commercial opportunities worth far more than the prize money itself. Clubs recognize that spending an extra £5 million on a manager’s salary makes sense if it increases the chance of achieving those goals.

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Looking Forward

Manager salaries will likely keep rising, though perhaps not at the same rate as the past decade. Clubs have become more sophisticated in how they structure football operations, with sporting directors and recruitment teams taking on responsibilities that managers once handled alone.

That shift might slow salary growth at the very top, as clubs distribute resources across larger leadership teams.

However, the elite managers who can do everything- coach, recruit, develop talent, and represent the club publicly will continue commanding premium salaries. Guardiola proves that clubs will pay whatever it takes to secure genuine difference-makers.

When your manager can turn a £100 million player into a £150 million player, or consistently deliver trophies that boost revenue across the entire organization, the salary becomes secondary.

The gap between top and bottom will probably persist.

Rich clubs can always outbid smaller rivals, and European qualification will continue separating those who can spend freely from those who must budget carefully.

The overall trend points upward, with even lower-half managers now earning salaries that would have seemed outrageous just ten years ago.

Football has become a sport where margins matter enormously.

The right manager can be worth tens or hundreds of millions in results and commercial growth. Premier League clubs have learned that lesson, and their wage bills reflect it. When you look at what Guardiola, Arteta, Emery, and others deliver, the salaries start making perfect sense.

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