Tino Livramento joins Newcastle United on five-year deal

Tino Livramento has today been announced as a Newcastle United player, with the 20-year-old right-back joining from Southampton for a fee of £32 million plus future add-ons.

He has put pen to paper on a five-year contract and will wear the number 21 shirt, as he did at St. Mary's, and will provide competition for Kieran Trippier once he reaches peak fitness.

Livramento has played 250 minutes in pre-season but only managed 45 minutes of Southampton's 1-0 home loss to AZ Alkmaar on Saturday the 29th of July, being forced off at half-time with a knock.

He'll likely require a bit of time to get back up to full fitness as a result and to get to grips with the intensity Eddie Howe demands of all of his players.

Speaking to NUFC.co.uk after completing his move, Livramento said:

"I'm really excited to have signed for Newcastle United and I'm looking forward to playing in front of the fans.

"I was here for the games over the weekend; even though they were friendlies, there were so many fans and they were still so loud so I can't wait to see what it feels like to play in front of them in a Premier League or Champions League game.

"The way the manager plays football is really attractive and I feel like it suits me as a player. And with how well the team did last season, the trajectory that we're on now, I'm just looking forward to being a part of that.

"And to be able to learn from Kieran Trippier is another big thing for me; hopefully he teaches me how to become a better player and a better full-back."

And his new head coach added:

"Tino is a very talented young player with an exciting future ahead of him so we are delighted to sign him.

"At 20, he already has lots of attributes that I admire but he also has the potential and drive to really grow with this team. I'm looking forward to working with him and to seeing him develop in a Newcastle shirt."

A timeline of Livramento's transfer to Newcastle

Serena Taylor/Newcastle United Football Club via Getty Images

Livramento was first linked to Newcastle back in late June, with an exclusive from John Percy and Luke Edwards in The Telegraph claiming that the deal was in the region of £15 million and that the club was "closing in" on the former Chelsea player.

The deal didn't prove to be quite that straightforward, unfortunately, with The Telegraph's assertion that Southampton were looking to recoup nearer £30 million for the right-back being far closer to the truth.

Early July didn't bring much news, aside from reports that Livramento would prefer to move to St. James' Park rather than head back to Stamford Bridge to join Chelsea, having left the Blues in search of more senior football in the first place.

As with the deal for Harvey Barnes of Leicester City, though, things picked up after a lull following news of a bid for Allan Saint-Maximin from Al-Ahli of the Saudi Pro League. By the 20th of July, Jacob Steinberg of The Guardian was reporting that Livramento's move to Newcastle was "close", though in reality, it really wasn't.

Conflicting reports emerged in the following days, with the most notable coming from The Athletic's Southampton reporter Jacob Tanswell. He reported that two bids for Livramento from Newcastle had been rejected, with the Saints looking to recoup as much as £50 million for their young defender.

Things picked up again a few days later, with Simon Jones of Mail Online claiming that Newcastle were ready to "reignite their interest" in the 20-year-old, who Southampton were now valuing at nearer £40 million.

Livramento was then forced off at half-time in the Saints' friendly loss to AZ Alkmaar on Saturday the 29th of July, with Tino himself taking to social media to assure supporters that he was fine.

Then, it wasn't long before Harrison Ashby was on his way to Swansea City on loan and things picked up pace again, with news of Newcastle finally having a bid accepted for the right-back breaking on Sky Sports on the afternoon of Thursday the 3rd of August. He was due on Tyneside the following day to complete his medical, with his deal being wrapped up today.

What kind of player is he and where will he play?

Livramento has played almost exclusively as a right-back in his senior career, having previously been fielded as a right-midfielder when playing for Chelsea's Under-21s. He has featured twice on the right of midfield for Southampton, with all of his other appearances coming further back. He has never played at left-back, despite many reports to the contrary.

It is expected that Livramento will be Kieran Trippier's long-term successor at Newcastle, though he's a very different sort of player. More akin to a young Gareth Bale, his primary strengths are his acceleration, pace, and power when running with the ball. The 20-year-old loves nothing better than to seize on a wayward pass and drive forward on the dribble.

Livramento also loves a tackle and isn't afraid to dive in, though this has led to some commentators labelling him as "raw" in terms of his defensive work. Much more of an attacking full-back than a defensive one, he's not afraid to thread a through ball, whip in a cross, or take on a shot himself off either foot, and he loves to be involved in the play as much as possible.

We'll hand over to the excellent Kev Lawson to fill you in on the rest:

Long story short, it's about as exciting as signing a young defender could possibly be. Livramento has huge, huge potential and had forced his way ahead of the very good Kyle Walker-Peters before his ACL injury when he was just 18 years old.

If you'd rather judge for yourself, here's the most comprehensive video we've found to date on Wor Tino:

What's his FIFA rating?

Livramento's base card on FIFA 23's Ultimate Team mode had a 75 rating, with a primary position of RB and a secondary position of RWB. Due to his injury last season he only ever had one card.

In FIFA 22, however, having begun as a mere 61-rated bronze, he ended the season with an 88-rated "Team of the Season" card, so impressive was he down at St. Mary's.

He has the "controlled" chemistry style and is right-footed with 4* weak foot and 2* skill moves (which seems harsh based on his highlight reel). His base statistics are 83 for pace, 74 for dribbling, 47 for shooting, 70 for defending, 65 for passing, and 67 for physical.

He has high attacking work rate and medium defensive work rate, with no special traits.

In career mode, Livramento has a 74 rating and 84 potential. He's statistically most similar to Rico Henry of Brentford (left-back) and can become one of the top 20 right-backs in the game.

How good is he on Football Manager?

Those of you who play the game have probably signed him for Newcastle, as he becomes one of the best right-backs in the world on FM. Here's how he starts the game:

Labelled as a "wonderkid", Livramento is at his best when played as a wing-back with an "attacking" duty, though he also excels with the same duty when played as a full-back too. He has no preferred moves.

How much will he cost in Fantasy Premier League?

Livramento began his breakout 2021/22 season at £4.0m but had climbed as high as £4.4m before his ACL injury in April 2022. He spent all of last season at that same price due to the injury, only featuring in the final two games of Southampton's doomed campaign.

He'll likely be priced at £4.5m on the game now, which is the same as Sven Botman, Emil Krafth, Dan Burn, and Matt Targett. We wouldn't be touching him at that price, but once he's settled in and (heaven forbid) if there's an injury to Kieran Trippier then he'd be going straight into our teams.