Newcastle kicked off the first offering of the New Era on New Years Eve with an opening bid for Atletico Madrid’s Kieran Trippier. The England international is reportedly keen to return to the Premier League with Newcastle chasing him.
The fate of this offer has not yet been revealed. However, Atletico manager Diego Simeone was asked about Trippier’s future during his press conference for their game against Rayo Vallecano on Sunday.
The former Argentina international said the following when asked about his right-back’s candidacy:
“We have always had to live with these situations. There were always times when important players for the team got the chance to leave.
“Then it will depend on what the player wants and it’s up to us to adapt to what happens.
“You know very well that once the footballer has made a choice there is not much we can do as coaches other than tell Trippier how important he is to our team.”
Atletico are returning from a two-week winter break with their game tomorrow. Trippier injured his shoulder in early November but returned to start two games before the break. Despite an offer from Newcastle on the table, the 31-year-old is in tomorrow’s squad of the day.
2022: The first list of the workforce? pic.twitter.com/vaCt0x66xS
– Atlético de Madrid (@atletienglish) January 1, 2022
Trippier’s contract expires in the summer of 2023. Everything indicates that he wants a return to England. While Simeone is keen to retain his star right-back, he could be helpless if the player decides to leave.
There has been talk that Chelsea could take a late step for Trippier. Right-back Reece James suffered a hamstring tear against Brighton last week and faces up to six weeks of absence. It could complicate things for Newcastle if Thomas Tuchel turns to Trippier
However, Newcastle have been in contact with the player since early November and remain confident of landing their first target. Here’s Luke Edwards’ latest update from The Telegraph.
UPDATE #nufc sources say they hope to secure a deal in the next few days, but more work needs to be done.
– Luke Edwards (@LukeEdwardsTele) January 1, 2022
