Newcastle Were Ready for Howe's Exit Months in Advance, Says Sporting Director

Newcastle United had been planning for life without Eddie Howe for the best part of a year, according to sporting director Ross Wilson, who pushed back on claims the manager's summer exit caught the club off guard.

Howe stepped down in July after almost five years in charge, saying he needed a break for the sake of everyone involved. He had planned to stay on this season, so his decision came as a shock to many, especially after a summer that already saw several key players leave the club. But Wilson insists Newcastle were far from caught out, and firmly rejected the idea that the move was messy or difficult for the club to handle.

"We always knew where we were going to go," Wilson said. "That doesn't mean we were always going to Matthias, but he was always part of our planning."

Wilson explained that preparing for change is simply part of running a club well. "Part of our responsibility as leaders of the club is to be prepared and Eddie is an exceptionally talented coach," he said. "That means he was probably going to do something else at some point so we had to be prepared for that."

Newcastle ended up talking to several possible replacements before settling on Matthias Jaissle, who Wilson said stood out as the top choice to follow what he called a "legend of the club." Jaissle, who took over in October, later revealed he had personally been thinking about a possible move for eight or nine months before it happened.

The club wanted someone who could build on the pressing, attacking style Howe had put in place, and Jaissle's track record of developing young players, especially during his time at Red Bull Salzburg, fit well with Newcastle's plan to focus on signings aged 24 and under.

After Wilson's first conversation with Jaissle, who arrived from Saudi club Al-Ahli, chief executive David Hopkinson reportedly told him the German sounded "really excited about this one."

"I didn't deliberately go on the phone to do that," Wilson said. "But I remember saying, 'you're probably right, I think this is it.'"

So far, Jaissle is unbeaten in his first four matches in all competitions. Still, only three of Newcastle's eight new summer signings, Lukas Hornicek, Amar Dedic and Nico Gonzalez, started the recent 2-2 draw with Bournemouth, a sign that some new faces still need time to settle into what Jaissle has called a "transition phase."

Wilson confirmed Jaissle hasn't been given a set target for the season, even though the club has mapped out different financial outcomes depending on where they finish. Hopkinson added that Newcastle's long-term goal is to "consistently and credibly compete" for major trophies, but stressed the club must stay within football's financial rules to get there, especially after settling with UEFA over a breach of its regulations earlier this year.

As part of that plan, Newcastle aim to grow revenue by 50 percent by 2030, mostly through sponsorships, though selling players will still play a role in funding future signings.

"We want to have players here who are on a journey with us," Wilson said. "Equally, if some of those players' journeys go at rapid speed, they might go somewhere else but, of course, that's normal. That's part of football."

While Newcastle had prepared for the departures of Anthony Gordon and Sandro Tonali, who joined Barcelona and Tottenham, losing club captain Bruno Guimaraes wasn't part of the plan. The club also had to adjust after missing out on top transfer targets Victor Munoz and Johan Manzambi, who signed for Liverpool and Aston Villa instead.

Even so, Wilson maintains that apart from the Guimaraes exit, the transfer window largely went as expected. 

"That does not mean that every single player [who signed] was the number one name on our list, but that is never the case in any transfer window," he said. "Clearly we were disappointed a couple of times but, again, that's normal. No club goes into the window and reaches the end getting every target they set out to get. If they say they did, it is a lie."