Newcastle United have confirmed the appointment of Matthias Jaissle as their new head coach.The 33-year-old has joined from Saudi club Al Ahli — who, like Newcastle, are majority owned by the country’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) — and replaces Eddie Howe, who left the club last week after five years in charge.In a statement, Newcastle said Jaissle’s appointment concluded a “thorough, rigorous and confidential recruitment process” during which the German emerged as the “outstanding candidate to lead the club into an exciting new chapter”.
We’re delighted to announce the appointment of Matthias Jaissle as Newcastle United head coach. ✍️
Welcome to the club, Matthias! 🖤🤍 pic.twitter.com/C1kNstwg8X
— Newcastle United (@NUFC) August 5, 2026Jaissle joins Newcastle with the club on the verge of selling captain Bruno Guimaraes, with The Athletic reporting earlier on Wednesday that they are set to sanction a £75million transfer to Arsenal for the Brazilian midfielder.Newcastle have already sold Anthony Gordon to Barcelona and Sandro Tonali to Tottenham Hotspur this summer.Jaissle — who will start work with the squad at a training camp in La Manga, Spain immediately — described his appointment as “an incredible honour”.He said: “When Newcastle United comes your way, you take notice. The ambition of the club, the vision for the future and the opportunity ahead made this an incredibly compelling place to be. I have followed the club’s journey closely in recent years and the progress that has been made is clear for everyone to see.“I am incredibly excited about the future. I fully and unreservedly believe in this project, the ambition and the direction the club is taking. There is a clear vision, strong leadership and an exceptional platform to build on.”Newcastle CEO David Hopkinson described the German as one of “the most exciting and highly regarded young coaches in football”.The club said his new coaching staff would be announced in due course.Jaissle took over as head coach of Saudi Pro League side Al Ahli in 2023, winning the AFC Champions League Elite — the top level of continental competition in Asia — in 2025 and 2026.The 38-year-old spent the entirety of his seven-year senior playing career with German side Hoffenheim, retiring in 2014 at the age of 26. He took his first coaching position with Austrian side Liefering, the feeder club of Red Bull Salzburg, in January 2021, before joining the latter as head coach in July of that year.He won the Austrian Bundesliga in each of his two campaigns with Salzburg, before being relieved of his duties two days before the start of the 2023-24 campaign, which Salzburg said was at his request so he could join Al Ahli.Newcastle won the Carabao Cup under Howe, their first major trophy in 70 years (Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)Howe had informed the Newcastle hierarchy of his desire to step away shortly after pre-season began but offered to remain in his role while the club sought to find a new head coach.The Englishman led Newcastle to their first trophy in 70 years, winning the Carabao Cup in 2025 and also oversaw qualification for the Champions League twice.“It has been the privilege of my lifetime to have been the manager of Newcastle United,” he said. “It is difficult to put into words what this club, the city and its supporters mean, and will always mean, to me and my family.”Newcastle have pre-season friendlies scheduled against Valencia, Everton, Bayer Leverkusen and Strasbourg before they get their Premier League season underway when they host Liverpool on August 23.Who is Matthias Jaissle?The below is an extract from an interview with Jaissle in JanuaryJaissle 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, too, 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.What kind of coach is Mattias Jaissle?Sebastian Stafford-Bloor and moreJaissle 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 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.Jaissle wants his players to have agency on the ball, but for that expression to exist within a framework and to be supported by intense defensive work.“I want stress on the opponent as soon as possible,” he says. “And when we win the ball, I want to go as quickly as possible towards the opponent’s goal. I’m very vertical in that approach.”The Rangnick influence is clear. But as naturally as that comes to the players within the Red Bull system, in the world outside it is not the same.
