Matthias Jaissle is in pole position to replace Eddie Howe as Newcastle manager – just three weeks out from the new Premier League season.
Howe is leaving his role as Magpies head coach after five years in charge, with the 48-year-old English coach keen to take a break from football. Newcastle lost 4-1 to Bristol City in a pre-season game on Wednesday.
Howe leaves with plenty of credit in the bank, having guided Newcastle to their first major trophy in 70 years with victory in the 2025 Carabao Cup. He also guided the North-East side to the last-16 of the Champions League last season.
Yet, as first broken in The Athletic, Howe looks set to be replaced by little-known German coach Jaissle, who will have to hit the ground running with just 24 days before their Premier League opener against Liverpool at St James’ Park.
Here’s everything you need to know about Matthias Jaissle.
Who is Matthias Jaissle?
The 38-year-old German coach is a two-time Asian Champions League winner with Saudi Pro League side Al-Ahli – a club majority-owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), just like Newcastle.
Jaissle has coached Al-Ahli – who boast players such as Ivan Toney and Edouard Mendy – since 2023 and also won the Saudi Super Cup in 2025.
Prior to that, he coached Red Bull Salzburg for two seasons, winning consecutive Austrian Bundesliga titles and the Austrian Cup after succeeding ex-Leeds boss Jesse Marsch. He also led Salzburg to the Champions League knockout phase.
Jaissle obtained the job at Salzburg just four months after guiding Liefering to second place in the second tier of Austrian football. That being said, he was previously manager of Red Bull Salzburg’s Under-18 academy team.
open image in galleryJaissle had a modest playing career, featuring for Hoffenheim as a centre-back for seven years but making only 68 league appearances after an ACL tear in 2009 triggered his retirement at 26. He also earned one cap for Germany’s Under-21 side
The German started his career in the youth teams at VfB Stuttgart, where he was coached by Thomas Tuchel, with whom he has a close friendship. Many believe this relationship was key in Toney being called up to England’s World Cup squad.
He has a coaching philosophy of high-intensity, attacking football and, given he started out in the Red Bull ecosystem, sees ex-Man United manager Ralf Rangnick as a source of inspiration.
“I want stress on the opponent as soon as possible,” he said in an interview in January. “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.”
Why have Newcastle appointed him?
The clear link is that PIF own both Newcastle and Al Ahli.
However, Jaissle has built a strong reputation as one of the world’s top young coaches, having won trophies and achieved success wherever he has gone. His time at RB Salzburg was particularly impressive, before he ventured to Saudi Arabia and became the first-ever coach to win back-to-back Asian Champions League titles.
However, it is quite the shift from Newcastle’s last three coaches, who have all been English: Howe, Graeme Jones (interim) and Steve Bruce.
In fact, it is the first time in Newcastle’s history that they have appointed a German manager – and it’s just their third non-British/Irish coach.
Newcastle are next in action on Saturday 8 August in a friendly against Valencia, before their final warm-up games of the season against Everton, Bayer Leverkusen and Strasbourg.
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