Newcastle United have gone through a summer of upheaval — and for Matthias Jaissle, things are still far from settled.

If Matthias Jaissle needed any reminder of the scale of the challenge he has taken on at Newcastle United this season, he received a brutal one within 45 seconds at St James’ Park on Saturday.

Bayer Leverkusen were the high-profile visitors for the first half of a pre-season double-header, just one week before the new Premier League campaign begins. These teams had met in the Champions League in December, drawing 2-2 at the BayArena. But Newcastle are travelling a very different road now, and that was obvious from the instant Ibrahim Maza beat new signing Lukas Hornicek from long range at the Gallowgate End. Newcastle fought back to equalise before half-time through Malick Thiaw, but substitute Victor Boniface then struck the winner.

On Sunday, Will Osula found the net in another underwhelming draw against French side Strasbourg, before Newcastle went on to lose on penalties. Across the two matches, Jaissle learned more about what his side lack than about what they already possess.

Maza was the standout difference-maker on the opening afternoon, providing Bayer Leverkusen with exactly the kind of creativity Newcastle have been missing badly for years. Every time he received the ball, he seemed to have space, was facing goal, and appeared to know where each of his team-mates was. Although personnel behind the scenes has since changed at almost every level, Newcastle had tracked the Algerian when he was a teenager at Hertha Berlin. Eddie Howe had been criticised for a lack of invention in his team, and Jaissle has since lost Anthony Gordon and Bruno Guimaraes, two players who might at least have helped supply some of it. The German coach prefers to use a No.10 in a 4-2-3-1 system; Maza was not only making Leverkusen function, he was also highlighting exactly what Newcastle are missing. There is a sense that if Newcastle tried to sign him now, he would cost three or four times what he would have done a year ago. After a bruising summer of change on Tyneside, there is a need not only for three or four experienced additions in specific positions, but also for signings that generate excitement and show both the current squad and the supporters that the Saudi-led project is still alive. Five years on from the takeover, the hard reset has left many wondering about the Public Investment Fund’s appetite for the project in light of the changing political landscape in the Middle East. Pre-season is always risky to judge because, by definition, the results do not matter. But splitting the first-team squad across two matches so close to the start of competitive football feels somewhat counterintuitive. With both groups padded out by benches full of academy players, it was always difficult to draw too many conclusions once the substitutions began.

“We needed to split,” Jaissle said on Saturday.

“First of all, because it doesn’t make sense that the lads play two games in a row. But the most important thing now in the last friendlies is that you see everyone over 90 minutes, and there are different approaches.

“Some of them, they could use one more training day, especially the guys who returned later or came back from an injury. So there are many aspects to consider, and again, it has nothing to do with a starting XI or not.”

Across both days, Jaissle was forced to confront reality in several different forms. Nick Woltemade and Yoane Wissa, the two forwards hurriedly brought in under Howe in 2025 to replace Alexander Isak, are still not quite working together. Wissa is certainly sharper than he has ever looked in a black-and-white shirt, but that benchmark was painfully low. Woltemade still appears to be a square peg in a round hole, and while there remains goodwill and a desire to make the club’s record signing a success, there is a growing feeling that both player and club may be better off going their separate ways.

Then there is Osula, the most unpredictable striker at the club. Every touch from him creates anticipation, because any moment can produce either something brilliant and magical or a complete disappointment. In that sense, he is the ideal poster boy for the era that may be coming at St James’ Park. Excitement about the unknown deserves credit, because the more common reaction is fear. On the evidence of these two matches, Newcastle are nowhere near ready. The club insist more transfer business will be done before the deadline, with Benfica full-back Amar Dedic likely to be confirmed this week, but that alone will not be enough. A player like Maza would transform the mood instantly and give Jaissle a much stronger chance of making an impact. Right now, though, with Liverpool and the opening day less than a week away, Newcastle look underprepared and are trying to catch up. From here, turning it around will only become more difficult.