Pierre Sage and Régis le Bris lead a new French coaching presence in the Premier League | OneFootball

The Premier League opens on Friday with Arsenal v Coventry at 21.00. According to L'Équipe, for the first time in more than 20 years two French head coaches, Régis Le Bris and Pierre Sage, will be in Premier League dugouts.

On Saturday afternoon at Everton at 16.00, Sage will become the 10th French manager in the history of the English top flight, a lineage that dates back to 1889.

In truth, he will also be the 10th since 1996 and the arrival of Arsène Wenger at Arsenal. The Premier League era and the Bosman ruling accelerated the internationalisation of dugouts and squads in England.

Ten may seem modest, yet it is not far off the tallies for Spaniards, 15, Italians, 15, and Portuguese, nine.

What truly stands out is the legacy, since only Wenger has been crowned champion of England.

Source: L'Équipe

“Artificial intelligence was used to assist in creating this article based on reporting from the original source quoted.”