Newcastle United fans have been wondering what happened to the plan to sign a new left-back this summer as attention seems to have turned to right-sided Tino Livramento.
Tino Livramento has dominated the Newcastle headlines in the last 24 hours as the deal which looked at one point to be almost done then became one that was miles away from completion with the 20-year-old turning out for Southampton in a friendly last night.
Fans thought Newcastle had right-back covered with Kieran Trippier, and especially with Emil Krafth – who did an amazing job covering for Tripps in the back half of the 2020/21 season – returning from his long-term injury. Also Newcastle splashed out on bringing in youngster Harrison Ashby from West Ham who is seen as another Trippier-esque player who would be groomed to be his replacement.
Newcastle’s left-back pursuit seems to have taken a back seat
Left-back seemed to be the more pressing issue which is why Newcastle were so heavily linked with Kieran Tierney from Arsenal as the season drew to a close. However, the window opened and talk of Kieran Tierney went away, as did most of the talk surrounding left-back options.
Of course, Dan Burn did an exemplary job in that role last season, even keeping new-signing Matt Targett out of the side, but Eddie Howe is looking for a left-sided player who can push up as effectively as Trippier does on the right.
Now transfer journalist Ben Jacobs has suggested that Newcastle’s interest in Tierney may not be over yet, telling Give Me Sport: “Kieran Tierney is one to watch as far as left-backs are concerned at Newcastle. There’s been a long-standing interest.
“Arsenal have to understand whether Tierney is happy with his diminished game-time and prepared to stay at the club or, alternatively, would like to go somewhere where he might be a starting left-back.
“Until the player decides, Newcastle won’t move in any kind of concrete sense. But there’s also a possibility that Tierney is available in the market.
“I would expect Newcastle to move for a left-back because there’s a starting spot potentially available even though Dan Burn is liked and popular at the football club.”
Newcastle will need to move some players on before going for Tierney
Arsenal have been spending pretty freely this summer so it’s unlikely they’ll be overly enthusiastic about a loan deal for Tierney, especially with Celtic interested in bringing him home, so if Newcastle are to make their move for the Scotland international, they’re going to have to move players on before they can do so.
Tierney cost Arsenal £25million when he signed from Celtic but it’s uncertain if they’d let him go for a similar fee or if they’d demand more.
If Newcastle can move on Ryan Fraser, Jeff Hendrick and Isaac Hayden sooner rather than later then we can potentially beat Celtic to Tierney’s signature.
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