Alan Shearer now says £32m man has to be given the first-team spot as his own after Saturday

There were two young Newcastle United players fighting for TNT Sports' Player of the Match on Saturday as the Magpies beat Arsenal at St James' Park.

TNT Sport opted to give the accolade to Lewis Hall based purely on the fact that he was responsible for, and successful in stopping Bukayo Saka down Arsenal's right, but equally impressive on the other flank was Tino Livramento who came very close to being handed the award.

Tino Livramento was viewed as Newcastle's first-choice right-back going into this season with everyone expecting Kieran Trippier to take a back seat after turning 34, but as Eddie Howe struggled to get the balance right with the team, Livramento and Trippier kept being swapped in and out by Howe.

Now that Trippier is sidelined through injury, the £32 million signing from Southampton is having a free run at the starting berth and he has taken it with both hands and run with it.

Tino Livramento is making that right-back role his own

His last few games have been good but on Saturday he was absolutely excellent and now former Toon striker Alan Shearer has said on The Rest Is Football podcast that now is the time for him to be handed that first-team role permanently after Gary Lineker praised his performance.

“He was superb as well. I thought both fullbacks were outstanding. Martinelli rarely had a kick to be honest. A lot of that was down to Livramento. He’s had tough opposition. Kieran Trippier has been great for Newcastle. He’s out injured at the minute, so he [Livramento] has been in and out and not really had the chance to say this is my position. I think that time is now.”

We can't see any reason why Howe would need to turn to Trippier to replace Livramento in the first team now. He's settling in well, contributing at both ends of the pitch like Trippier would, but he's got the pace to deal with almost anyone he's likely to come up against which gives him a big edge over Tripps.

It's time to stop being so sentimental

There's still speculation over whether Trippier will be moved on in January, but if he does, we're in safe hands with Tino and Emil Krafth backing him up.

Newcastle need to start moving forward and not looking back which means the likes of Trippier and Callum Wilson who have been great for the club, need to be moved on.

We need to stop being so sentimental as it's holding us back. It has been an issue for a while now and we get the feeling that Paul Mitchell isn't going to stand for it any more.