Matthias Jaissle has said he's arrived at Newcastle in an "ambitious" mood, but the new head coach has warned success "will not happen overnight" after replacing Eddie Howe.
It has been a testing summer on Tyneside. Howe ended his four-and-a-half-year tenure, and then captain Bruno Guimarães, fellow midfield linchpin Sandro Tonali and star forward Anthony Gordon were all traded.
Newcastle's shift in transfer policy, pivoting largely from established players to elite youngsters, means the outfield signings they have made -- Bazoumana Touré, Sean Steur and Aladji Bamba -- are all under 22.
The upheaval has left the squad shorn of experience but Jaissle, who guided RB Salzburg to back-to-back Austrian titles and Saudi side Al Ahli to successive Asian Champions League crowns, remains upbeat.
Matthias Jaissle was announced as head coach on Aug. 5. Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images At his official unveiling at St James' Park, the 38-year-old German boss said: "We are ambitious. That's the most important thing, also why I decided to come here. But this will not happen overnight.
"The players who left the club, they were great players, great characters, experienced players and this is now a vacuum. Other players need to step in.
"It's a big challenge, always when there's a transition period, but it's no time to complain. It doesn't make sense to see the negative things. We want to see the chance in that situation and that's our approach from day one.
"I'm long enough now in the industry that you cannot promise anything, it makes no sense to promise things now because I don't know how things look in half a year or in one year. What we can control, we will control."
Jaissle's first order of business was a training camp in La Manga, Spain, while his new-look side claimed an encouraging 2-1 win in Valencia before he jetted into Newcastle at the weekend.
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He will now turn his attention to a friendly against Everton in Edinburgh on Wednesday and adding reinforcements, with Marseille captain Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg heavily linked with a move to St James' Park.
Jaissle, who said he has not decided who will replace Guimarães as captain, said: "We are all optimistic. I am here for 36 hours in Newcastle, I'm also really happy now to be home, I had a bit of time in La Manga already to get the lads better. We work on it, that's all I can say.