£12m Newcastle man who withdrew from international duty will face Chelsea on Saturday

 · November 21 2023, 16:59
£12m Newcastle man who withdrew from international duty will face Chelsea on Saturday
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After Kieran Trippier withdrew from the England camp on Sunday Newcastle United fans were wondering if he'd be available to face Chelsea.

Newcastle's £12million mega-bargain Kieran Trippier left the England camp early citing 'personal matters'. No more information was given, but it was strongly hoped that he'd be available for selection on Saturday when Newcastle take on Chelsea.

Tripps had looked to have been struggling for Newcastle in the last few games, like he was almost running on empty.

Trippier should have been rested by Southgate

It was quite infuriating then, when he was picked by Gareth Southgate to play for England in two European Qualifiers that had little meaning as far as England were concerned having already booked their place in Germany next year.

Adding insult to injury from a Newcastle perspective, Trippier played the entirety of the 2-0 win over Malta before withdrawing from the camp on the eve of the game against North Macedonia.

It was 90 minutes of football that Trippier looked like he could have done without even before kick-off, although, ever the true professional, he acquitted himself well and was one of the better players on the pitch.

All signs point towards Trippier being available on Saturday

Since he returned home, all has been quiet until today.

Sky Sports reporter Keith Downie has confirmed that Trippier was training with the Newcastle team this morning and should be available for selection.

If we were to hop on board the speculation transportation we'd suggest that Trippier just made up some excuse to leave the England set up so he could get a bit of rest in before Saturday's game. If not, then we hope whatever it was has been sorted and all's well.

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