Kieran Trippier has revealed how close he came to joining another Premier League side before Newcastle United.
The Newcastle right-back is currently away on international duty with the England squad ahead of this summer’s European Championship.
This comes after a difficult campaign for Kieran Trippier who suffered considerably through injuries over the 2023/24 season.
Nevertheless, Trippier remains one of PIF‘s top purchases since taking over the club back in 2021.
Trippier was the player who really started the influx of big names on Tyneside following the takeover from Mike Ashley.
However, the 33-year-old has now revealed that he actually came fairly close to signing for one of Newcastle’s Premier League rivals before putting pen to paper at St James’ Park.
Kieran Trippier says he was close to signing for ‘biggest club in the world’
Trippier made the move to Tyneside in January 2022 from Atletico Madrid in a deal worth around £12m.
And he has gone on to be one of the most important players in what Eddie Howe has built at Newcastle over the last couple of years.
The 33-year-old has played 91 times for the Toon since arriving and has provided 25 goal contributions in that time.
But it seems he could have found himself playing for another Premier League club just months before signing for Newcastle.
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Speaking to Gary Neville on The Overlap, Trippier admitted he came close to joining Manchester United before he moved to Tyneside.
“Yeah, United came in straight after the Euros and that was very close, obviously growing up being a Red as well with all my family, but it didn’t happen. Everything happens for a reason,” Trippier said.
Gary Neville: “What happened? It fell away at the last minute or?”
“No, to be fair, it just fell away really. I think Ole [Gunnar Solskjaer] was the manager at the time. Everything seemed perfect. I was absolutely chuffed. It was Man United, the biggest club in the world, and it didn’t happen, so yeah, I was back at Madrid. It’s not a bad place to go back to, is it?” Trippier replied.
“Then six months later I was at Newcastle, but yeah, obviously everyone raised their eyebrows. Obviously he is going for the money, he’s going for this, you know, I have made clear many times I took less money coming to Newcastle than I did at Madrid. I didn’t have a relegation clause even the position that we were in. I trusted the manager and that was a key factor why I came.”
Newcastle need their Kieran Trippier successor
Going into the summer, Trippier has just one year remaining on his current deal with the Magpies.
And a decision on his future is coming at a time when the England international is struggling to keep himself fit.
Fortunately, it seems as if Newcastle have their direct replacement in Tino Livramento with the 21-year-old having played significant minutes last season.
Although the new campaign is still months away, it will be interesting to see who is the starting right-back for the Toon when it comes to opening day in August.
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