Just 5 years after completing the takeover of Newcastle United and appointing Eddie Howe, Saudi Arabia's owners are facing another important decision when looking for a new head coach.
Eddie Howe has left St James' Park just 25 days before the Premier League 2026-2027 opening match against Liverpool. The most mentioned name to replace the English strategist is Matthias Jaissle, head coach of Al Ahli.
Although not yet a familiar face to English football fans, Jaissle has a very impressive coaching profile.
The German strategist grew up from the Stuttgart training academy and once wore the German U21 team jersey before playing 65 matches for Hoffenheim. However, serious injuries forced him to retire in 2014 when he was only 25 years old.
Immediately after that, Jaissle switched to coaching. He worked as an assistant at Brondby before joining the Red Bull system in 2019 as coach of the U18 RB Salzburg team. Shortly after leading FC Liefering, Jaissle was appointed head coach of RB Salzburg to replace Jesse Marsch.
This was also the period that brought Jaissle's name to European level. He helped Salzburg win two consecutive Bundesliga titles, for the first time taking the club through the Champions League group stage, and also contributed to developing many young talents such as Karim Adeyemi, Benjamin Sesko and Noah Okafor.
In 2023, Jaissle moved to Al Ahli and continued to achieve success when helping the Saudi Arabian team continuously win the AFC Champions League in the 2024-2025 and 2025-2026 seasons.
Jaissle's coaching style is clearly influenced by Red Bull's philosophy. His teams always play with high intensity of pressing, fiercely contesting and switching to attacking status very quickly after winning the ball.
At RB Salzburg, Jaissle often uses a diamond-shaped 4-4-2 formation with Brenden Aaronson supporting the Karim Adeyemi and Noah Okafor duo in attack. Meanwhile, at Al Ahli, he switched to the familiar 4-2-3-1 system, exploiting the speed of Galeno and Riyad Mahrez on both wings to support center forward Ivan Toney.
That is also the reason why Jaissle is considered suitable for Newcastle. The 4-2-3-1 formation can maximize the attacking ability of two full-backs Lewis Hall and Tino Livramento, while creating more space for attacking players to operate.
New signings such as Bazoumana Toure, Aladji Bamba or Sean Steur are also considered suitable for the German strategist's tactical system. In particular, in case Bruno Guimaraes moves to Arsenal, Newcastle will need a coach capable of restructuring the midfield and developing young players - a strength that Jaissle has proven throughout his career.
If officially joining St James' Park, Jaissle will not only replace Eddie Howe but also bring a football philosophy full of energy, modern pressing and focusing on developing young talents. The challenge for him will be to rebuild Newcastle after a series of personnel changes, while maintaining his ambition to compete in the Premier League top group.
