Newcastle United are preparing to name a replacement for outgoing manager Eddie Howe, who has left the Tyneside club after five years in charge.

Matthias Jaissle is the coach set to step in. Like Howe, he went into management at a very young age after a fairly modest career as a defender. The 38-year-old is set to become Newcastle boss, with both he and the club having something to prove.

Jaissle, who comes from southern Germany, is currently in charge of Al-Ahli in the Saudi Pro League. The Royals are one of the clubs majority-owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), which also owns Newcastle.

The former centre-back played for Hoffenheim in the lower divisions in Germany before following fellow German Alexander Zorniger to Denmark, where he became his assistant manager at Brondby.

After two years in Denmark, Jaissle was recruited into the Red Bull football network, having already been involved as part of the RB Leipzig set-up.

Just 18 months after rejoining that multi-club structure as manager of Red Bull Salzburg’s under-18 side, Jaissle was promoted to the senior team at Salzburg’s finishing-school club FC Liefering and then very quickly elevated again to Red Bull Salzburg as the successor to Jesse Marsch.

The Red Bull model is disliked by many football supporters, but it has become a highly productive route for developing young players. Jaissle has worked with Benjamin Sesko, Karim Adeyemi and Strahinja Pavlovic, among others.

Some of Red Bull’s achievements stem from its shared outlook on coaching and management, in which developing talent within a defined strategy is given priority.

Marsch’s direct predecessor at Salzburg was Marco Rose, who is now on the verge of starting his own first Premier League season as Bournemouth manager. Pep Lijnders is among the coaches who have held that role since.

Former Hoffenheim manager Ralf Rangnick, in fact, oversaw that system for a spell and brought Jaissle into the set-up. Newcastle’s incoming boss favours principles over an overly rigid system, having learned within Red Bull’s celebrated 4-2-2-2 philosophy while generally avoiding that formation itself.

“I think it’s important that every club has a philosophy about the way they want to play. But what is also important for me as a coach: Here in Salzburg are guardrails – but within these guardrails, each coach can bring his own signature,” Jaissle said in 2022.

“The question is always how do I get the best team on the pitch? It is important to maintain a certain tactical flexibility. For me, the tactical formation plays a subordinate role. It is crucial that we get our principles on the pitch.”

Jaissle’s record in Austria stands up well before he left Salzburg for Jeddah three years ago. He won the Bundesliga twice and helped the Red Bull club establish itself in the Champions League, an area that has become difficult because of the growing primacy of RB Leipzig within the group.

Al-Ahli have won the last two AFC Champions League Elite titles, beating Japanese opposition in the final on both occasions, with Riyad Mahrez, Franck Kessie, Edouard Mendy, Ivan Toney and former Hoffenheim teammate Roberto Firmino among their squad.

They finished third in the Saudi Pro League in 2025-26, equalling their best placing under the German coach.