Report: Newcastle now favourites to sign midfielder Kieran Trippier once called 'phenomenal'

 · December 18 2023, 17:29
Report: Newcastle now favourites to sign midfielder Kieran Trippier once called 'phenomenal'
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Newcastle United are back in pole position in the race for England midfielder Kalvin Phillips despite Fabrizio Romano's post earlier.

This morning transfer insider Fabrizio Romano reported that Kalvin Phillips was the subject of a loan-to-buy bid from Juventus and suggested that the Italian giants led the way for his signature.

Now, however, TeamTalk are saying that Newcastle remain in the driving seat after it emerged that Juventus have been priced out of the deal.

Manchester City want £50million for Phillips

Manchester City recently said they'd want £50million for Phillips for whom they only paid around £45million for when they took him from Leeds United. Given that Phillips has barely featured for City in that time, the fact they want to make a profit from his sale is ludicrous.

Kieran Trippier Kalvin Phillips Harry Kane
Eddie Keogh/The FA via Getty Images
Kieran Trippier along with Kalvin Phillips and Harry Kane that time they turned up at the wrong arena and ended up playing water polo

The report by TeamTalk also suggests that Phillips' priority would be to remain in the Premier League rather than heading off to Europe which again falls kindly for Newcastle.

Given that Newcastle are still dancing with the devil that is FFP, it's likely that if any deal is to be done for Phillips in January, then it'll be a loan with an option/obligation to buy, but the club would have more confidence in being able to stump up the cash than Juventus did.

Eddie Howe can get the best out of Phillips

We definitely need a player like Phillips, someone who can be the bridge between defence and midfield and we have seen that there is definitely a good player in Kalvin Phillips, he just obviously didn't fit the way Pep Guardiola plays - which begs the question 'why buy him?' but that's history now.

If we can get Phillips back to his best, and Eddie Howe's track record suggests we can, then we'd have a hell of a player on our hands. Our very own Kieran Trippier, who has played alongside Kalvin Phillips for England even called the former Leeds United man 'phenomenal' a while ago.

He's got some catching up to do after festering on the Man City bench, but Gareth Southgate keeps selecting him for England, so he must be doing something right. Wait. hang on, that suggests Southgate is competent. Scratch that.

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