Eddie Howe leaves Newcastle, and a new manager is already ready to step in
Eddie Howe is leaving Newcastle just weeks before the Premier League season starts, in a surprising move, according to reports. Howe had been getting the Magpies ready for the new season, but they recently lost 4-1 in a friendly match against Bristol City.
After a tough transfer window where Newcastle sold key players like Sandro Tonali and Anthony Gordon, and their captain Bruno Guimaraes wanted to join Arsenal, Howe looks set to step down. Journalist Fabrizio Romano said Howe and Newcastle are parting ways right away, and talks about a new manager have already started.
Shortly after, David Ornstein from The Athletic shared that Howe told the club he wants to take a break from football after five years in charge. Newcastle’s top choice to replace him is Matthias Jaissle, who currently coaches Al Ahli, a club also owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF). Discussions with the 38-year-old are reported to be well advanced.
Newcastle hasn’t officially announced Howe’s departure yet, but it seems he was expected to stay until he changed his mind. Under Howe, Newcastle won their first trophy in 70 years by claiming the 2025 Carabao Cup, beating Liverpool at Wembley, and also qualified for the Champions League twice. Last season, they finished 12th in the Premier League and had a rough patch with just five wins from 17 league games since January.
This poor run led to serious talks with the club’s leadership, involving 25 members of the PIF. Despite feeling the team underperformed, they initially decided Howe would stay. However, he chose to step down, and the club reportedly took the news well.
Jaissle, 38, has won the Asian Champions League twice with Al Ahli and boasts a 65.22% win rate managing players like Riyad Mahrez, Roberto Firmino, and Ivan Toney. As a player, he was a defender for Hoffenheim in Germany from 2003 to 2014 before moving into coaching.
He began coaching as an assistant with Brondby in Denmark, then took charge of FC Liefering, Red Bull Salzburg’s reserve team, after working with their Under-18s. He then became head coach at Salzburg, replacing Jesse Marsch, winning two Austrian Bundesliga titles and leading the team to the Champions League knockout stages for the first time.
Jaissle was let go just before the 2023/24 season started and later took the Al Ahli job in Saudi Arabia. So far, he has managed 138 games with the club, winning 90, drawing 25, and losing 23, known for playing fast and attacking football.