A version of this article was first published in January, it has been updated after the news Jaissle is being lined up to take over as Newcastle coachWhen the full-time whistle blew at the Alinma Stadium in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Matthias Jaissle was wild-eyed.It was May 2025 and his Al Ahli side had just beaten Kawasaki Frontale 2-0 in the AFC Champions League final, becoming Asian champions for the first time in their history.Looking distinctly German in his polo-neck shirt and flushed by the heat, Jaissle pumped his fists and roared, as backroom staff and players scattered in celebration.“It was a pure release,” Jaissle tells The Athletic, “because it was a big ‘yes’ to the step I made two years before and it showed me that it was the right decision. We had won the biggest trophy in Asia and it made everything completely worthwhile.”“Everything” describes quite a journey.Now 38, Jaissle never intended to coach. He was a centre-back as a player and, by 18, having been signed from Stuttgart by their then manager Ralf Rangnick, was playing for Hoffenheim, becoming part of their journey up the leagues and to Bundesliga promotion in 2008.He was a Germany Under-21 international until injury intervened. Jaissle suffered an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tear in a 2009 game against Hannover and was never the same. He retired at 26 but, thanks to Rangnick, by then RB Leipzig’s head of sport, was invited onto a trainee programme within the club’s youth department.Jaissle worked as an assistant to current Stuttgart head coach Sebastian Hoeness, who was in charge of Leipzig’s under-16 side. In 2017, he became Alexander Zorniger’s assistant at Brondby, the Danish Super Liga club. And, by 2019, he had returned to the Red Bull network to become head coach of RB Salzburg’s under-18s.Two years later came a series of fortunate breaks. First, he replaced Bo Svensson as coach of FC Liefering, Salzburg’s feeder club, when the Dane took over at Mainz. Then, when Jesse Marsch left Salzburg for their sister club in Leipzig, Jaissle was in position to succeed him.He became head coach of the serial Austrian champions at just 33.Matthias Jaissle with the Austrian Bundesliga trophy in 2022 (Hans Peter Lottermoser/SEPA.Media /Getty Images)But Jaissle’s age was a virtue. It allowed him to connect with a young squad that included Benjamin Sesko, Karim Adeyemi, Noah Okafor and Brenden Aaronson.In 2021-22, Salzburg won a league and cup domestic double, also becoming the first Austrian team to reach the Champions League round of 16. It was a hugely significant moment for the club.Another league title followed in 2022-23, and while Salzburg were eliminated from their Champions League group, that came after creditable draws with Chelsea and Milan.Then came that abrupt change of direction.At the end of July 2023, just two days before the new season, a terse Salzburg statement revealed that Jaissle had been temporarily relieved of his duties, allowing him to focus on negotiations with Al Ahli.“Yes, you’re not the first person to see it as a remarkable move,” he says now from his office in Jeddah, with the club’s sun-scorched training ground in the background.“But back then, it was really spontaneous. I wish the timing had been different, but sometimes that’s how it is in football. There’s interest, or an offer, and then you need to decide quickly.“But for me, the thought back then was obviously — and let’s be completely honest — that financially it was something I just had to consider. But the other part was the chance to coach a team who had just got promoted into the first league, with a huge fanbase and with some big stars — some superstars, really — and it was a big step for me.”The contract offer from Al Ahli, majority owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) and one of the country’s most popular clubs, was enormous and came with the opportunity to coach previously Europe-based players in Roberto Firmino, Riyad Mahrez, Franck Kessie and goalkeeper Edouard Mendy.He accepted, but the response was not favourable.His departure from Salzburg was provocative. So were his new employers. Saudi Arabia remains inextricably associated with human-rights abuses, and the Saudi Pro League has long faced accusations of being a tool for ‘sportswashing’. Newcastle, where he is headed next, is also majority owned by PIF.Every player and coach who has left Europe to work there has faced criticism and is asked the same questions.“Naturally, I also thought about this beforehand,” Jaissle says.“The sporting side was not the only factor. Yes, I’d read the headlines but at the same time I was aware that the country was taking some positive steps to open up. There is a positive energy, that things are better than before and will keep getting better in the future. Not just in the club but across the city and country, especially among the young people.