Newcastle United have already named their official player of the season, and now Toon legend Alan Shearer has given his view on who the award belongs to.
The club gave the honour to Kieran Trippier, who was handed the trophy on Monday – the same day that Newcastle confirmed their place in next season’s Champions League.
The 32-year-old was congratulated by the likes of Bruno Guimaraes and Marcus Rashford, while he also received a message of praise from Shearer.
Now the Match Of The Day pundit has given his thoughts on who deserves the accolade – and he agrees with the official decision by the club.
Shearer thinks Trippier deserves Newcastle player of the season award
As part of an article for the Athletic, Shearer gave his opinion on who is Newcastle United’s player of the season for the 2022/23 campaign.
“For me, player of the season has been Tripper,” he said.
“He has been the catalyst for everything, the first signing after the takeover, the first one through the door, an England international, La Liga winner and him coming to join the fight sent a message out.
“He’s lifted everybody and he’s just been a proper, proper captain all season.”
Toon defender is a worthy winner
There were plenty of candidates for Newcastle’s player of the season. Joelinton easily could have retained the honour after winning it last year, while Sean Longstaff was also a contender. It is hard to ignore Callum Wilson too, who is the club’s top scorer with 18 goals. His form in recent months has been incredible.
You could make an argument for pretty much every member of Eddie Howe’s squad, but there is no denying that Trippier is a worthy winner.
It has been arguably the best year of his career, performing at an incredibly high level for the entire campaign. It is amazing how consistent he has been, and he has been pivotal in guiding Newcastle into the Champions League.
Whether it is his assists or his leadership skills, Trippier has influenced the club in every department, and has been the transformative signing that we needed him to be.
As Shearer says, he was the catalyst for everything that has came since his arrival, and he fully deserves the honour of being Newcastle United’s player of the season for the 2022/23 campaign.