Four signings that would be perfect for Newcastle under Matthias Jaissle | OneFootball

Newcastle are gearing up for an unexpected new era after Eddie Howe’s exit from the club and the decision to hand the reins to Matthias Jaissle.

Jaissle will be joining the club from Al-Ahli as their new manager in the wake of Howe’s decision to walk away after a transformative spell at St. James’ Park.

While Howe was losing some faith towards the end of last season, it’s the latest in a long line of brutal blows for Newcastle this summer.

They’ve already lost Sandro Tonali to Tottenham Hotspur and Anthony Gordon to Barcelona, while Bruno Guimaraes continues to be linked with Arsenal.

And even worse, they’ve lost the battle of the kits to arch-enemies Sunderland.

But it hasn’t all been bad news. Newcastle are building to the future with signings like Bazoumana Toure, Ewen Jaouen, Sean Steur and Aladji Bamba.

You’d suspect they might need more though if Jaissle to to enjoy any kind of success. Hands up, who’s seen all four of their new signings before? Anybody?

They could work out well for them in the long term. When he was managing FC Liefering and Red Bull Salzburg in Austria, Jaissle developed plenty of young talents.

But there’s significant room for improvement in the Newcastle squad, especially if they lose a few more players, so we’ve picked out some targets they should be looking at.

Ivan Toney

Whenever a club appoints a new manager, it’s natural to think about which players he might bring with him from a previous club.

The fact that Jaissle has been working in the Saudi Pro League for the past three years might negate that in this case, but there is one player who could be of intrigue from the Al-Ahli squad – and it’s a familiar face.

Former Magpies striker Toney, who only ever played four times for the club, has been at Al-Ahli for the past two seasons, scoring 72 goals.

No player has ever scored more for Jaissle teams. Not Benjamin Sesko, not Riyad Mahrez, not Karim Adeyemi, not Roberto Firmino. Ivan Toney.

Newcastle need something more convincing up front after last summer’s signings, Nick Woltemade and Yoane Wissa, struggled to deliver.

Sure, they weren’t Newcastle’s first choices. Ironically, had they been able to sign Sesko, they could now be reuniting him with his former Salzburg boss.

But they ran into problem after problem in their quest to replace Alexander Isak last summer and are now stuck with Woltemade and Wissa, while hoping William Osula can develop.

If there’s a chance to bring in Toney, it would offer Newcastle more guarantees up front. The 30-year-old could be a handy short-term signing to plug the gap until they can finally find their long-term answer.

He knows the Premier League, he knows Jaissle, and even though he wasn’t ready at the time, he knows Newcastle.

If the price is right, it’s worth a shot.

Johan Bakayoko

With Toure on board as the long-term Gordon replacement on the left wing, Newcastle now need to decide if they need an upgrade on the right.

Anthony Elanga had a disappointing debut season after his arrival from Nottingham Forest. He could have the chance to turn a new leaf under a new coach, but for those who aren’t convinced, a new signing would be welcome.

There aren’t too many transfer links flying around for a right winger at Newcastle, which suggests it might not be their biggest priority, but it shouldn’t be overlooked.

One player Newcastle took a look at before landing on Elanga was Johan Bakayoko. Instead, he went from PSV to RB Leipzig last summer.

Jaissle might have to call in a few favours from any remaining Red Bull connections, but Bakayoko would be a good fit for his style with his high-intensity approach.

Most comfortable on the right wing to cut onto his stronger left foot, Bakayoko only scored twice in his debut Bundesliga season.

That doesn’t mean Leipzig will be giving up on him just yet, and nor should his suitors. If anything, it might play into Newcastle’s hands with his value if they were to revive their interest.

Joao Palhinha

This one has been doing the rounds a bit in recent hours. Palhinha needs a new home after his time on loan at Tottenham from Bayern Munich last season, and Newcastle have been tipped to offer him it.

Experience in midfield is exactly what they need, especially if Guimaraes and Joelinton follow Tonali out of the department and to pastures new.

Palhinha excels at winning the ball back, so he could be a major asset as an anchor to help Newcastle if they get caught in transition after pressing high up the pitch, as Jaissle’s teams often do.

Recalling his time with Fulham, the 31-year-old has fared a lot better in the Premier League than he has in the Bundesliga. Bayern want rid, and Newcastle could become grateful takers.

Having someone as senior as Palhinha could help the new youngsters Steur and Bamba as they acclimatise to English football.

Amar Dedic

The full-back areas are pretty high on Newcastle’s agenda for strengthening. In an ideal world, and depending on what happens with Lewis Hall, they’d reinforce both sides.

But they could try to make that happen in one fell swoop with a single signing to cover both full-back stations.

If Jaissle is given licence to go through his contacts book, the name of Amar Dedic might be one that stands out.

He worked with the Bosnian for Liefering and Salzburg, usually leaning on him as an inverted left-back.

But Dedic is primarily a right-back and regularly plays there for Benfica, who only signed him last year and would take some convincing to part with him.

There have been links with a move to Fenerbahce for Dedic in recent days, but Newcastle should be able to outmuscle them in any bidding war.

Dedic was actually linked with the Magpies a few years ago. There hasn’t been much to suggest they’ll resurrect that pursuit yet, but we’ll start the ball rolling.

Still only 23, Dedic has margin for further development and reuniting with Jaissle could unlock his potential on a bigger stage.