Newcastle sign Amar Dedic on his 24th birthday, five days before Liverpool
The Bosnia full-back has joined from Benfica on a five-year deal for a reported £30 million, reuniting with the coach who brought him through at Salzburg.
Aug 19, 2026
Amar Dedic turned 24 on Tuesday and spent his birthday being unveiled at St James’ Park. The Bosnia full-back has signed a five-year deal, taken the number 37 shirt, and cost Newcastle United a reported £30 million from Benfica. He arrives five days before Liverpool come to Tyneside.
The manager is the reason this one was easy
Matthias Jaissle coached Dedic at Liefering and then at Red Bull Salzburg, and Dedic did not dress up why he said yes. “Working with Matthias again was a big factor for me. We know each other well, he knows what I can bring on the pitch,” he told the club.
Jaissle’s own description was about function rather than sentiment. “He will bring both defensive and attacking qualities to our squad, which suits the style of football that we want to play. He’s athletic, aggressive and technically very good,” the head coach said. Sporting director Ross Wilson called him “a modern full-back who has the ability to contribute at both ends of the pitch”, and made a point of where he has already done it rather than what he might grow into.
The practical value is that Dedic covers either flank. For a squad that has spent the summer losing players, one signing who solves two positions is worth having.
One season in Lisbon, and 31 caps
Dedic only joined Benfica in July last year, for a reported 12 million euros, having come up through the Salzburg system from the age of 13. He gave them a season of roughly two dozen league appearances with a goal and four assists, plus a Champions League campaign that began in the qualifying rounds. Bosnia have capped him 31 times, three of those at the World Cup.
He is not a marquee name, and Newcastle have not sold him as one. What they have is a 24-year-old with a Champions League season behind him who already knows what the coach wants, which in the third week of August is worth more than a bigger name who needs until Christmas to learn it.
Sixth in, but Jaissle’s first
Dedic is the sixth player Newcastle have signed this summer, after Bazoumana Toure, Aladji Bamba, Sean Steur and the goalkeepers Lukas Hornicek and Ewen Jaouen. He is also only the second of the six who is older than 20, and he has been reported as the first signing Jaissle has driven himself, the other five having arrived in a window that opened under Eddie Howe before Howe walked away in the middle of pre-season.
The sales tell the louder story. Anthony Gordon, Sandro Tonali and Bruno Guimaraes, the captain, have all gone this window. Jaissle did not inherit a squad so much as the money from one.
He finds out how much of it he has fixed on Sunday, when Liverpool visit at 9pm IST in Newcastle’s first match of the Premier League season. Dedic may well start.