Eddie Howe confirms Newcastle exit is possible as Everton chase Kieran Tripper signing
Eddie Howe admits he can’t guarantee Kieran Trippier will be at Newcastle past the end of next week amid interest from clubs including Everton.
The Magpies boss spoke to the media on 23 August ahead of his side’s meeting with Bournemouth to express his “wish” for the 54-cap England international to remain at the club, but accepted he could “never” say for sure as an exit is possible.
He said, via The Guardian: “My wish is Kieran stays here and continues to play for us. But I can never answer with absolute certainty because it’s football and the window is always unpredictable.
“We take every case individually and try to make the right decision for the player and the club.”
According to The Guardian the Toffees are joined by Galatasaray and Atalanta with an interest in the 34-year-old, who has already put his house up for sale in anticipation of leaving.
Seamus Coleman and Nathan Patterson injured for Everton
Nothing will be done in time for the game against Tottenham but it isn’t hard to see why the Toffees would be interested in Trippier.
Captain Seamus Coleman signed a one-year contract extension in the summer but has struggled with fitness after a serious injury last year.
Nathan Patterson is also coming back from a significant lay-off but has seemingly never had the trust of Sean Dyche on the pitch, and potentially also an awkward relationship off it.
Ashley Young lasted all of one match as stand-in this term before making the situation worse with his red card against Brighton, leaving Mason Holgate in with a chance of an Everton start at Spurs when a permanent exit seemed more likely for most of the summer [i News, 12 August].
At the same time, Trippier is less than a month away from his 34th birthday and is said to be on £100,000-a-week at Newcastle [Mirror].
It could easily be argued that he would be an immediate upgrade to Dyche’s back four, but how long that would be the case at his age is impossible to determine and Everton aren’t in a position to be taking expensive gambles after putting a lot of work into cutting costs at Goodison Park.
A loan, potentially with Newcastle covering some of the wages, would clearly be ideal for the Toffees, but quite likely not what Trippier or the Magpies would be willing to agree to.
In other Everton news, the Toffees have been warned about making a “colossal” mistake amid a transfer development that has left those involved baffled.
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