As Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola join Jurgen Klopp and Co, the Premier League presents its biggest-ever managerial battle

• e-mail

Traditionalists will have hated the fact that Saturday's big story was 'Louis van Gaal to be sacked' rather than 'Manchester United win the FA Cup'.

But that's the reality. Whereas managers used to be appointed to bring success to football clubs, it now feels that football clubs need spending power and success so they can attract the best managers.

The Barclays Premier League might not have Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo but we're about to enter the age of the Super-Manager.

Jose Mourinho (left) and Pep Guardiola will be heading to Manchester United and Manchester City this summer

Guardiola joins the star managers spread across the top Premier League clubs including Jurgen Klopp

The Premier League may not have Lionel Messi but in the likes of Klopp and Mourinho there is box-office talent

Antonio Conte (left) has been appointed as Chelsea's new manager and he is another big-name in the dugout

Look who will be on our shores next season, surnames that are brand names. Mourinho. Guardiola. Klopp. Wenger. Pochettino. Conte. And who can forget Ranieri. You can bet if there are more miracles next season, the headline is as likely to be 'Claudio Ranieri wins Champions League' as Leicester or Jamie Vardy doing it.

It's easy to be po-faced about it but there's no doubt interest will go through the roof in the coming months because of the managerial stardust in the Premier League.

These are giants of the game, more famous than their players, known throughout the world and with their own identifiable characters to ensure this soap opera will get top ratings.

Jose Mourinho is the Special One, arrogant, confrontational, a serial winner who is downright rude at times. Pep Guardiola is the angel to his devil, creating football as art and splitting his tight trousers while doing it.

At Anfield, Jurgen Klopp is already mentioned in the same breath as Bill Shankly and Kenny Dalglish in terms of charisma if not achievements quite yet.

'We've seen warmth, genuineness and honesty from Jurgen, all great values you can associate with Liverpool,' says managing director Ian Ayre. 'The most successful managers at Liverpool have been those that have had a real affinity with the fans, none more so than Bill Shankly.'

Arsene Wenger and Mourinho have had a fiery relationship on the touchline which will now be reignited

Klopp and Wenger greet each other ahead of a clash between Arsenal and Borussia Dortmund in 2014

Title-winning manager Claudio Ranieri led the way and there were no mind games - but that may change

Anyone who saw Klopp orchestrating the supporters after Liverpool beat Villarreal to reach the Europa League final would be in no doubt he's a frontman of the highest order.

Lifting his arms up to each corner of the crowd to be greeted by a deafening roar was more akin to Glastonbury than Anfield.

At Arsenal, they have their own cult hero/anti-hero in Arsene Wenger. Provoked by the 'Wenger out' brigade all season, the silent majority at the Emirates finally found their voice to give their manager huge backing at the end of the campaign.

When you consider Chelsea, Manchester United and Liverpool won't be in the Champions League next season, it's extraordinary to think Wenger has got his side there for 20 years in a row. Arsene Knows, indeed.

The playful Italian manager will be hoping Leicester can fight it out with the top managers once again

Tottenham believe they have the league's outstanding boss in the form of Argentine Mauricio Pochettino

Then you've got the Italians, Antonio Conte and Ranieri. The latter has already charmed us with his pizzas, opera and Dilly Dong but Conte is going to be equally fascinating.

A coach of Juventus and Italy, he is known to be authoritarian with his players and bases his team on tough defending. Whether that works at Chelsea with Eden Hazard and Diego Costa as well as the lingering presence of John Terry is open to debate.

But Chelsea are on their knees after finishing 10th and desperate times call for desperate measures.

Despite the glittering array of names already mentioned, Tottenham believe they have the best pound-for-pound manager in the division. Mauricio Pochettino even has his own showbiz nickname MoPo and how ironic that an Argentine should prove such a massive help for English football by developing Harry Kane, Eric Dier, Dele Alli, Danny Rose and Kyle Walker.

Pochettino has patrolled the touchline in matches against Guardiola from their time in Spain together

Wenger and Pochettino will fight out the north London derby as well as their battles with other top bosses

One thing is for sure, it will be standing room only at next season's press conferences as managers speak about themselves, and each other.

Mourinho and Wenger have history, the soon-to-be United manager ungallantly calling his rival a 'specialist in failure'. Ditto Mourinho and Guardiola from their time in Spain when Pep sarcastically described Jose as 'El Puto Jefe (the f***ing boss)'.

Last season's title clash saw an absence of mind games between the main protagonists. That's about to change and, like it or not, it'll be big box-office.