‘It’s tough’ – Matthias Jaissle breaks silence on Guimaraes’ Arsenal transfer but insists Newcastle have ‘no excuses’

MATTHIAS JAISSLE has “no excuse” not to bring success back to Newcastle despite the exodus of star names. The German, 38, officially took charge on Wednesday – the same day a £75million fee was agreed with Arsenal for skipper Bruno Guimaraes – after arriving from Ah-Ahli in Saudi Arabia. Bruno Guimaraes is heading to Arsenal for £75million Credit: PA Matthias Jaissle has taken over at Newcastle with three major departures Credit: Getty The Brazilian is the third big name departure after Anthony Gordon and Sandro Tonali, though club chiefs are adamant Lewis Hall will not follow them despite Manchester United’s interest. Jaissle said: “We lost a couple of really important players, but that’s also a chance. Sign up for the Football newsletter Thank you! “You can see it in a negative way, that there’s a lot of challenges and we can search for excuses, but that’s not our idea. We see the chance in these things. “Give me a bit of time to really get to know the players, work with them. That’s the most important thing. “We have a clear vision of where we want to go, and we want to be successful – of course, everyone wants to be that. “It’s about hard work now in the pre-season and making progress.” Newcastle have brought in a host of exciting young talents to replace the big hitters – but some are tipping Toon to be battling down the bottom rather than challenging at the top. Even legendary record scorer Alan Shearer admits it will be a “challenge” for the new man following a bruising summer. Most read in Football BEST ONLINE CASINOS – TOP SITES IN THE UK Anthony Gordon signed for Barcelona earlier in the window Credit: Getty Jaissle added: “I didn’t hear the talk (about relegation) because I try to avoid reading these things. I’ve mentioned it a couple of times but this is the challenge. “There are so many transitions at the moment, many players left, big, big players, legends for the club left. “But we need to see it as a chance, not having too many excuses now, just thinking forward (of) what we can influence. “Control the controllables, I used to say, and we are sure there will be progress.” Jaissle has been with his squad in La Manga since Saturday but admitted he had no involvement in the decision to sell Guimaraes. Though he says fans can expect some incomings to fill the huge voids left. He revealed: “One day I met him [Guimaraes] quickly, but the decision was already made. “It was a nice conversation, a fantastic player, but also a great human being. “It’s tough, but for him also the next challenge, and we need to deal with it at a later stage. “We trust the players who are here already, but we will also see some changes. “I have some clear ideas but I want to give the players who are here a chance. They can show up. It is a new challenge for them and we can wait. “We have, for sure, the capacity to do something on the market and our sporting director is aware of that. “Then for sure when the season starts we will see some more new faces.” Comment now