Moving to one of the Premier League’s so-called big-six clubs is widely regarded as the natural next step for a successful manager.
The big six refers to Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham, clubs that have largely dominated the top of the table over the past 15 years or so.
Andoni Iraola has reached a verbal agreement with Liverpool after finishing sixth with Bournemouth, raising questions about whether he can defy the historical pattern.
The data suggests the transition from another Premier League club to a big-six side is one of the toughest in management, with short tenures, mixed results and no major silverware to speak of.
Thomas Frank, Graham Potter and Nuno Espirito Santo are among the recent managers who struggled to make the leap successfully.
The most consistent pattern among those who have made the move is how brief their tenures turned out to be, with the majority failing to last two full seasons.
David Moyes remains one of the clearest examples, having been hand-picked from Everton by Sir Alex Ferguson, who urged supporters to “stand by your new manager” in his farewell speech.
Despite arriving with significant backing, Moyes was dismissed just 10 months into a six-year contract, with Manchester United missing Champions League qualification for the first time since 1995.
Roy Hodgson’s spell at Liverpool followed a similarly brief trajectory, with the manager saying he was honoured to be taking “the biggest job in club football” upon his appointment in July 2010.
He departed by January the following year, with Liverpool sitting 12th in the league having won just seven of their opening 20 matches.
Potter lasted just 22 league matches at Chelsea after joining from Brighton, while Nuno managed only 10 at Tottenham following his success in taking Wolves from the Championship to a Europa League quarter-final.
Thomas Frank’s time at Tottenham reinforced the same trend, with the Dane lasting just 26 games after an impressive stint at Brentford.
Even managers given more time found that success and stability remained elusive, with Mark Hughes spending around 18 months at Manchester City before being replaced.
Brendan Rodgers, Harry Redknapp and Mauricio Pochettino all completed more than three full seasons at their respective clubs but none won silverware during those spells.
Points-per-game figures paint a mixed picture, with Rodgers improving after moving from Swansea to Liverpool in 2012, taking the club close to the title in 2013-14 before being sacked in October 2015.
Redknapp improved Tottenham’s results after arriving from Portsmouth, guiding the club into the Champions League and establishing them in the top four.
Pochettino joined Tottenham in 2014 after impressing at Southampton, leading Spurs to a second-placed finish in 2016-17 and a first Champions League final in 2019, where they were beaten by Liverpool.
Perhaps the most striking statistic is that since City’s 2008 takeover, no manager has stepped up from another Premier League club to one of the big six and won a major trophy.
Enzo Maresca did win the Conference League and the Club World Cup at Chelsea, but had managed in the Championship with Leicester before his move to Stamford Bridge rather than stepping up from another top-flight side.
In the 2025-26 season, traditional big-six clubs played an average of 55 matches across all competitions, eight more than other Premier League teams, significantly increasing the demands placed on managers.
Expectations shift fundamentally at these clubs, where winning is no longer considered an incentive but rather a minimum requirement, with little tolerance for the kind of poor runs accepted elsewhere.
Iraola left Bournemouth having led them to Europe for the first time, a remarkable achievement that makes his potential next step all the more significant.
Whether the Spaniard can end the trophyless streak of managers making the big-six move from within the Premier League remains one of the most compelling questions heading into the new chapter.
