Kieran Trippier played a huge role in bringing Nick Pope to Newcastle – he just didn’t know it.
The 30-year-old signed for the Magpies in June, costing £10million from Burnley. He should prove to be a great piece of business, and will likely make his competitive debut on Saturday against Nottingham Forest.
Pope is one of the best goalkeepers in the Premier League, and an improvement on our current number one Martin Dubravka. That’s a big statement given how good the Slovakian has been at St James’ Park. He is now being linked with a move away.
Our newest goalkeeper Pope seems destined to be Newcastle’s first choice, as he prepares to become the second England international to play for the Magpies in 2022.
The first was Trippier, and the 31-year-old actually helped convince Pope to move to St James’ Park.
How Pope got Trippier to convince him on Newcastle move
The Toon stopper has spoke to the Athletic about his move to Tyneside. He has explained the unknown role his Three Lions colleague Trippier played in the deal.
“I was poking him for information, without trying to give anything away about me maybe joining Newcastle,” he said.
“The transfer wasn’t widely known about and I didn’t want to let the cat out of the bag, or jinx it. But he must have been sick of me because I kept asking him questions; about the club, the city, the training, the manager, the squad, how he found the move, where he sees Newcastle going as a club.
“I already wanted to join but he made my decision much easier because he spoke so highly. He sold the move to me, even if he probably didn’t realise that’s what he was doing.”
Agent Trippier
Once again, Trippier’s role at Newcastle knows no bounds. He’s an incredible player, a leader, a motivator and a recruiter. He’s only been at the club since the start of the year and already he’s influenced so much.
His move to St James’ Park from Atletico Madrid was seen as a gamechanger, and that has proven to be the case. Trippier is already a huge presence on and off the pitch.
The right-back clearly spoke very highly about all aspects of Newcastle United right now, otherwise Pope might not have made the move.
Luckily he did, and the Magpies were able to secure a bit of a bargain. Now Newcastle have two England internationals in their ranks, and there will hopefully be more in the coming years.