What Kieran Trippier's announcement could mean for Tino Livramento - Opinion
Kieran Trippier has announced his decision to leave Newcastle United in the summer.
Ex-England full-back Kieran Trippier has made the decision to leave the club when his contract expires at the end of the season, bringing the curtain down on his four and a half year tenure on Tyneside.
The 35-year-old will go down as one of the club's most important signings of all time. His arrival in January 2022 essentially kicked off the Toon revolution under the PIF. He was the first signing of the new era and was seen as a statement signing despite his age and relatively low fee.
His experience has been invaluable, as has his leadership, and he leaves behind some pretty huge shoes to fill.
What happens with Tino Livramento?
Newcastle already have the player to fill the void on the pitch in Tino Livramento, but he is being heavily linked with a move away in the summer, which means Trippier's imminent departure could leave the Magpies with no cover at right-back, with Sweden international Emil Krafth also due to leave in the summer.
There are a couple of ways this could work out now. The most likely scenario is that Newcastle have to go out and find three right-backs in the summer, which is certainly going to have a huge effect on the transfer budget and strategy.
Another scenario is that Tino Livramento sees this as an opportunity. He will now be under no illusions that he's the first-choice right-back for Newcastle, and that will give him even more power when it comes to negotiating a new contract.
What we hope happens
We've long held a hope that Livramento's decision to postpone contract talks until the summer was not because he was looking for a way out, but rather that he was looking for all the stars to align in a way that gives him the power to demand anything he wants.
He's now pretty much in that position. Without Trippier, Newcastle can't hide the fact that they need Livramento. He's certain to go to the World Cup with England, and he has a strong interest from Manchester City. He can easily demand the same wage Trippier was getting, which was a reported £120,000 according to Capology, whereas Tino is currently on £60,000.
Tino must be rubbing his hands together now, knowing that he can kick the boardroom doors off and demand to have his money doubled and there's little Newcastle can do about it other than let him leave. The Chronicle claims that talks are still ongoing with Livramento's representatives, so there's hope.
We really hope that's what happens. While the club could double its money on Tino by selling him to Man City, we'd rather keep him as part of our long-term strategy. We're trying to build a team that can compete for titles by 2030, and Livramento is the type of player we need for that.
