Why Newcastle are signing a ‘giant’ from French second tier

Ewen Jaouen was always an avid follower of the Bundesliga from afar, but the Frenchman’s future appeared to lie elsewhere.

“With your characteristics, you could be a goalkeeper in England one day,” he was once told.

Those words from goalkeeping coach Christophe Lollichon proved rather prophetic.

Jaouen has since undergone a medical before completing a move to Newcastle United.

Such is his potential, the club are prepared to pay about £18.5m for a goalkeeper who has never played top-flight football before.

It is an almighty step up from Stade de Reims in Ligue 2, and he will clearly need time to adapt, but Jaouen’s promise is undoubted.

Few know that better than Lollichon.

Chelsea’s former head of goalkeeping has worked closely with, among others, Petr Cech, Thibaut Courtois and Edouard Mendy over the years.

He also coached Jaouen during a loan spell at USL Dunkerque in 2024-25.

“Ewen is only 20 so, if the context is positive, I don’t know the limit for him,” he told BBC Sport.

‘He needs to feel the love around him’

It is high praise, but there was a reason why Jaouen was monitored by clubs across Europe last season.

Not since Mendy has a goalkeeper kept as many clean sheets in a single league campaign (15) for Stade de Reims.

Jaouen still requires a lot of work, but the France Under-21s international appears to have all the raw attributes to develop further.

He is 6ft 6in tall, proactive in his box, decent with his feet, can produce a big save and has a lot of room for improvement in key areas.

No wonder Jaouen feels he is a “modern ‘keeper”.

Lollichon, who remains in touch with Jaouen’s camp, even likens his profile to when he first saw Courtois at the age of 17.

Rather than throwing him straight in, though, which would be “a little bit dangerous”, Lollichon suggests Newcastle will look to protect the “giant” at first.

“I think the objective of Newcastle is for him to observe the new level in his first season,” he said.

“Ewen was a number one in Ligue 2 last season, but the Premier League is the top. The intensity, the quality of the players, is a big change but Ewen has this ability to observe and adapt very quickly.

“He’s very professional. He’s not a guy who speaks all the time – he’s very discreet. What I’m saying is a little bit old-fashioned, but he needs to feel love around him.”

A pivotal loan and a defining night in Lille

This is a player who has certainly come a long way in a relatively short period of time.

Following a couple of errors, Jaouen was frustrated after losing his position at Dunkerque to the more experienced Adrian Ortola, who was better at playing out from the back.

However, after getting over that initial disappointment, he embraced the chance to learn.

Lollichon soon saw progress after initially encountering a young goalkeeper who was “a little bit scared” about certain changes to his game and his positioning at crosses.

Jaouen went on to impress against top-level opposition in the French Cup and played a key role in Dunkerque’s march to the semi-finals in 2024-25.

Not only did Jaouen make a crucial save to deny Jonathan David in normal time in the last-16 win against Lille, the Frenchman also stepped up to take his side’s final spot-kick after the tie went to a penalty shootout.

“He’s very solid and these two situations show something very important,” Lollichon said.

“Firstly, he was in a one-on-one situation and David was waiting for Ewen to go down, but he never gave a solution to him. David tried to chip the ball, but Ewen stayed standing. The pressure was very high yet he was very calm.

“It later went to penalties. We decided to put Ewen as the sixth shooter and he was absolutely clear in his head. When he came to take the penalty, [Lille’s former goalkeeper] Vito Mannone tried to dominate the timing of the penalty and Ewen took control.

“Mannone was a little bit surprised because he had a young guy in front of him, but the penalty was unbelievable.”

‘He could be very interesting’

Jaouen returned to Reims, buoyed, as he embarked on his first full season as a senior number one.

His performances soon caught the eye of Newcastle, who have been tracking his progress for several months.

Head coach Eddie Howe feels Jaouen has a “calmness and presence that belies his age” and believes he can “grow and improve within our environment.”

This move – Newcastle’s first of the window – signals a shift in approach following a bruising summer in 2025.

After recruiting a number of Premier League proven players last year, Newcastle are looking at more targets on the continent who could flourish in the right hands.

“In England, except David Raya, there are not necessarily a lot of proactive goalkeepers,” Lollichon added.

“But Ewen needs to be helped because imagine when you start in a new competition?

“He could play English cup games – that would be a very good start – and will try to secure his position, which is normal.

“If he understands the advantage to play proactively, he could be very interesting.”

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