Newcastle United have confirmed Matthias Jaissle as their new head coach, with the German signing a contract that runs until June 2030. The club have agreed to pay around £9.5m (€11m) in compensation to Saudi Pro League side Al Ahli to release the 38-year-old, who succeeds Eddie Howe after the former boss's five-year reign at St James' Park came to an end this week.
The timing was deliberate. Newcastle held back official confirmation of Howe's exit on Friday, a day after Sky Sports News first reported he was leaving, specifically so the Jaissle deal could be agreed first and announced as a clean handover. Jaissle is expected to be unveiled on Saturday, when he will meet his squad at the club's training camp in La Manga, Spain. His first game in charge comes next Saturday, a pre-season friendly against Valencia at the Mestalla.
Jaissle arrives with a compact but successful CV. A former Hoffenheim midfielder, he moved into coaching in Denmark before joining Red Bull Salzburg's academy. He took charge of feeder side FC Liefering, then landed the top job at Salzburg in the summer of 2021, winning a domestic double in his first season and retaining the Austrian Bundesliga title in his second while developing players such as Karim Adeyemi and Benjamin Sesko. In 2023 he left for Al Ahli, where he won the Saudi Super Cup and back-to-back AFC Champions League titles.
