KIERAN TRIPPIER has revealed all about his failed move to Manchester United before signing for Newcastle.
The 33-year-old full-back is currently in Germany with England preparing for the Three Lions’ Euro 2024 opener with Serbia on Sunday.
Ex-Tottenham ace Trippier returned to the Premier League back in January 2022 after two-and-a-half years at Atletico Madrid.
He lifted the LaLiga title during his time in Spain and was heavily linked with a switch to Old Trafford during the summer of 2021.
However, that move to United failed to materialise and he stayed at Atletico for another six months before Newcastle splashed out £12m for him.
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Trippier’s arrival kicked off the Saudi era on Tyneside and he helped them to secure Champions League football in 2023.
But despite starting his career at Man City, he was actually a boyhood United fan.
And speaking on The Overlap, via Sky Bet, he has now opened up on a potential move to the club three years ago.
Trippier said: “When I was in Madrid, the season before I left it was a tough year for me for numerous reasons.
“I just wanted to come back to England, my family was finding it difficult at the time.
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“I could have stayed at Atletico Madrid, I could have signed a new three-year contract.
“[Diego] Simeone in the car park on the day I was leaving didn’t want me to go but it was the right thing at the right time for my family.
“As players you have to be realistic of where you can go. I knew I wasn’t going to sign for Manchester City or Liverpool, I knew I was restricted to certain clubs.
“United did come [in for me] straight after the Euros and that was very close. I grew up with my family being reds, but it didn’t happen. Everything happens for a reason.”
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Neville then pressed him about United’s interest, to which Trippier said: “It just fell away. Ole [Gunnar Solskjaer] was the manager at the time and everything seemed perfect, I was chuffed, it was Manchester United, the biggest club in the world.
“It didn’t happen and I was back at Madrid. Six months later I was at Newcastle.
“Everyone raised their eyebrows, obviously people were saying he is going for the money, and he is going for this and that. I have made it clear many times that I took less money going to Newcastle than I did [staying] at Madrid.
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“I didn’t have a relegation clause, even at the position we were in, I trusted the manager and that is a key factor to why I came.”
Meanwhile, Trippier also admitted that he does not know whether Euro 2024 will be his final tournament with England.
But when asked about whether he planned to keep playing for a few more years yet, he said: “100 per cent. I go in every single day looking forward to train.
“It has never once crossed my mind about when I'm going to finish [playing football], of course the international side more so, for sure. You never know [if this will be his last international tournament].
“I’m one of those where I'll never come out and officially retire, I'll always be there if I'm needed.”
