This £9.5m capture has been the very best of the summer’s Newcastle United signings

How would you rate the Newcastle United signings?

Such a busy summer at St James’ Park.

So many arrivals and departures.

I want to concentrate on the incomings though.

The Newcastle United signings that arrived to take on this 2026/27 season.

Who has been the very best?

Newcastle United signings in the summer 2026 transfer window

£24.6m Ewen Jaouen
£43m Bazoumana Toure
£23m Sean Steur
£35.5m Aladji Bamba
£25.7m Lukas Hornicek
£29.5m Amar Dedic
£52m Nico Gonzalez
£55m Matias Fernandez-Pardo
£3m Ousmane Diabaté

I think the club have brought in some very good players in the transfer window just gone.

However, I think by far the best of the summer’s Newcastle United signings was this £9.5m capture.

Step forward…Matthias Jaissle.

I will happily hold my hands up and admit that I had never heard of the 38-year-old.

Just as I hadn’t heard of most of the players United brought in across the summer.

Only seven matches into the season I think fair to say it is very difficult to come to any firm conclusions about any of the nine players Newcastle signed. Some have shown better form than others, some have played a lot more than others. It is still though only seven games and we have plenty of experience as fans, of finding out long-term that players don’t always turn out as they appeared very early on. This can happen in both a negative and positive sense. Some new signings have the fear factor, living on their nerves, taking time to adjust to a new club and often new country. For others it is a real positive adrenaline rush that allows them to hit the ground running. Over time though the early nerves and adrenaline rushes wear off and we very often see very different players longer-term.

With managers though I think that it is very different.

As Newcastle United fans we have a lot more to judge a new manager on in a very short space of time. We don’t just have team performances and results to go on, there is so much else as we see how they handle themselves in interviews, in pre and post-match press conferences and so on.

As fans we are also well aware of the situation a new manager has inherited, the challenges he faces.

It is now 53 days since Matthias Jaissle was announced and I couldn’t have been more impressed with what I have witnessed.

The very first real indication that we had a potentially very special new manager, was when he was announced on 5 August 2026.

I went to the Al Ahli official website to see what they had to say on their manager’s departure and there was nothing, nothing at all. Strange.

I looked all over their official social media and eventually found this one sentence that Al Ahli posted on X/Twitter: ‘Al Ahli Club announces the end of the relationship with its First Team Head Coach Matthias Jaissle following his resignation, and the payment of the release clause within the contractual period.’

Isn’t it wonderful. That is, wonderfully bitter. This is a manager who brought Al Ahli unimaginable success. Al Ahli had never ever won the Asian Champions League and Matthias Jaissle did it two years in a row! My reaction to all of this, as well as finding it very amusing, was that it made me then believe to a far greater degree that Newcastle United had got a very good replacement for Eddie Howe.

Al Ahli obviously so gutted and bitter at losing somebody who has given them so much, they had reacted in this beyond bitter and childish way. I think this also went a long way to explaining why it took so long for NUFC to officially announce Matthias Jaissle, the more reliable journalists had stated that the delay was down to ‘paperwork issues at Al Ahli’ that was holding things up. Even though Newcastle United had met the £9.5m release clause to trigger Jaissle’s release, Al Ahli spitefully delayed it as long as possible for the new boss to start the huge challenge he had in front of him on Tyneside.

Matthias Jaissle, due to the delaying tactics of Al Ahli, only able to start work with NUFC 18 days before the Liverpool match.

I know we can often take with a pinch of salt what any new manager (or player) says when arriving at their new club, but with our new German boss, it did feel a little different and this was somebody who could potentially really get our club.

Matthias Jaissle explaining on 5 AUgust 2026 why he jad agreed to become Eddie Howe’s replacement: “It is an incredible honour to become head coach of Newcastle United. This is one of the biggest clubs in European football, with a unique history, identity and supporter base, and I am excited to experience that passion and connection first-hand. When Newcastle United comes your way, you take notice. The ambition of the club, the vision for the future and the opportunity ahead made this an incredibly compelling place to be. I have followed the club’s journey closely in recent years and the progress that has been made is clear for everyone to see.”

Matthias Jaissle adding: “I am incredibly excited about the future. I fully and unreservedly believe in this project, the ambition and the direction the club is taking. There is a clear vision, strong leadership and an exceptional platform to build on. My teams are built on togetherness, hard work, intensity and a passion to improve every single day. I will bring full commitment, full energy and a determination to give everything I have to help this club achieve its ambitions.”

Matthias Jaissle talking to official Newcastle United media about the players he has inherited: “I believe there is enormous potential within this squad and throughout the football club. I am excited to work with the players, staff and leadership team to help take the club forward. I cannot wait to get started and will attack this opportunity. I give my complete commitment and total energy to bringing further success to Newcastle United.”

It felt to me very much like Eddie Howe, when he took over. Somebody who would put his heart and soul into the Newcastle United job. As opposed to say Steve Bruce who players later revealed had given them (and the then manager himself…) more days off training than they had ever previously experienced at any other clubs in their entire careers.

The Newcastle United hierarchy also revealed that this wasn’t some spur of the moment appointment that they’d never previously heard of.

Those at the top of the club making public that they had contingency plans in place for possible replacements if/when Eddie Howe ever left, the same as is the case with key players who may leave NUFC.

Newcastle United Sporting Director Ross Wilson reacting to the arrival of Matthias Jaissle back in August 2026: “Matthias’ leadership style and football philosophy are strongly aligned with our sporting vision. His teams play high-energy football and we could feel his passion during all of our discussions throughout the recruitment process.”

The Newcastle United Sporting Director going on to add: “He has consistently demonstrated an ability to improve players, build cohesive teams and create elite performance environments in his coaching career. His successes at Salzburg and Al-Ahli underline his ability to deliver results while developing a clear football identity. We believe he is uniquely positioned to build on the strong foundations already in place and help take Newcastle United forward.”

CEO David Hopkinson also commenting on 5 August 2026: “Matthias is one of the most exciting and highly regarded young coaches in football and I’m thrilled to welcome him to Newcastle United. We have conducted a thorough process, and he has emerged as the clear candidate for the role. He possesses all the qualities we were looking for.”

The Newcastle United CEO adding: “His track record of success, leadership qualities and relentless drive to improve make him an exceptional fit for Newcastle United. We believe he is the right person to lead the club into the next phase of our journey.”

When you think how easy it would have been for those in charge at Newcastle United to fall into that lazy trap of doing that usual Premier League thing, recruiting some out of work character who has already been sacked at a number of other Premier League clubs.

If Newcastle United had gone down that lazy route, then they would have been given a far easier ride by the media. If you employ a British manager who has been around the block numerous times and who has loads of mates in the media, those journalists and pundits then rush to back their friend/associate up.

By bringing in Matthias Jaissle, the general reaction of the embarrassing UK media was that the 38-year-old must be rubbish because they hadn’t heard of him.

I remember way back in the 1990s when Arsenal brought Arsene Wenger from Japan and the media found it hilarious. Who is this?

More recently you have seen clubs such as Brentford, Bournemouth and Brighton appointing managers that leave the media puzzled.

Indeed, back in November 2021 the media found it astonishing that the new ambitious Newcastle United owners decided that their old mate Steve Bruce should be replaced by Eddie Howe who had taken Bournemouth from the brink of falling into non-league all the way through to the Premier League, then taken a year out to increase his experience and skill set following his resignation as boss of the Cherries after their eventual relegation after a number of years in the top tier.

Eddie Howe did an unbelievable job at Newcastle United and I feel Matthias Jaissle has every chance of doing the same.

Just like was the case with Howe’s era at NUFC, Jaissle knows that the odds are against him due to the financial rules that exist in the Premier League and with the UEFA SCR limits.

In Matthias we trust though.

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