Newcastle United strike £9.4m deal after Eddie Howe exit - two more moves set to follow
Newcastle United are set to appoint Matthias Jaissle as Eddie Howe’s successor as head coach.
Newcastle United are closing in on the appointment of a new head coach before even officially confirming the exit of Eddie Howe.
On Thursday, it was reported that Howe would be stepping down as Newcastle head coach after almost five years in charge. It comes after a difficult 2025/26 season and bruising summer which has seen the club lose the likes of Anthony Gordon and Sandro Tonali, with Bruno Guimaraes expected to follow.
Howe has made the decision to walk away from the club just over three weeks before the start of the new Premier League season. But Newcastle already have a replacement in Al Ahli manager Matthias Jaissle lined up.
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Newcastle United off to Spain
The Magpies will jet off to Spain on Friday for a training camp in La Manga, which will conclude with a friendly against Valencia on August 8. The squad will head off without their head coach, but Jaissle is expected to join the side in Spain once everything is formally agreed.
According to sources in Saudi Arabia, Newcastle will pay Al Ahli around £9.4million in compensation for Jaissle, who will sign an initial four-year deal at the club. He is expected to be unveiled as United’s new head coach over the weekend.
Al Ahli, like Newcastle, are majority-owned by the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund, but operate as a separate entity from the Magpies rather than a formal partner club. Jaissle has brought success to Al Ahli as well with back-to-back Asian Champions League titles over the past two seasons.
Prior to that, he won successive Austrian Bundesliga titles with Red Bull Salzburg along with the Austrian Cup.
More changes at NUFC
While he remains unproven in a top European league, the 38-year-old German will arrive as Newcastle head coach with plenty of intrigue and excitement as he tries to breathe new life into a project that has gone stale in 2026. Newcastle will also look to close in on the signing of goalkeeper Lukas Hornicek from Braga as the club’s fifth summer signing.
But sources close to the club believe there will be another major outgoing with captain Guimaraes set to follow Howe out of the door. Arsenal are preparing to make a move for the Brazilian midfielder.