Amar Dedic Completes £29.5m Move to Newcastle United

Amar Dedic has turned his back on Benfica and the Lisbon sun for a reunion on Tyneside, completing a £29.5m move to Newcastle United that underlines just how much faith Matthias Jaissle has in his former RB Salzburg defender.

The 24-year-old Bosnia and Herzegovina international becomes Newcastle’s sixth signing of a chaotic, reshaping summer and is expected to walk straight into the starting XI at right-back when Liverpool visit St James’ Park on Sunday.

“Working with Matthias again was a big factor for me,” Dedic said, making no attempt to hide the pull of his old coach. “We know each other well; he knows what I can bring to the pitch and I’m really happy to play for him again. It’s a special feeling and a real honour to join Newcastle.”

Jaissle knows exactly what he is buying. Dedic thrived under him at RB Salzburg, and that familiarity has fast-tracked him to the top of Newcastle’s shopping list. Once Jaissle replaced Eddie Howe earlier this month, he quickly told the club hierarchy that Dedic was the solution to an increasingly obvious problem on the right of defence.

The need has been glaring. Tino Livramento is still sidelined with a calf injury, and pre-season repeatedly exposed Newcastle’s lack of senior options at right-back. That vulnerability has now pushed the club into significant investment, but it comes with a tactical bonus: Dedic is not just a specialist on one flank.

Comfortable at right-back, capable at left-back, and already versed in Jaissle’s demanding, front-foot style, he arrives as both a plug for a gap and a natural fit for the new manager’s philosophy. For a side trying to reset under fresh leadership, that matters as much as the fee.

Across the Tyne, Sunderland have made a statement of their own.

The Wearside club are poised to confirm the £25.6m signing of Dayann Methalie from Toulouse on Tuesday, having beaten off interest from Roma and Newcastle to land the highly rated 20-year-old left-back.

Methalie, a France Under-21 international, played 28 times in Ligue 1 last season and brings the kind of versatility modern coaches crave. He will battle Reinildo for a starting spot in Régis Le Bris’ side but offers cover in several roles, able to operate as a left-sided centre-back or as a wing-back.

He has committed to a five-year contract at the Stadium of Light, a clear signal that Sunderland see him as a cornerstone of their defensive rebuild.

Two clubs, one river, and now two young full-backs arriving for major fees. The question on Tyneside and Wearside is the same: whose gamble on the flanks will define their season?