It’s taken a while but there’s finally lift off at St. James’ Park with the news that the first new signing of the Eddie Howe era has been confirmed.
A statement on the official Newcastle United website noted that Kieran Trippier had put pen to paper on a two and a half year deal, for an undisclosed sum.
At 31 years of age, the former Atletico Madrid star has the right mix of experience to be able to be a real asset for the club, and it’s surely hoped that his capture will open the floodgates in January for a club desperate to ease their relegation worries.
The balancing act that Howe now has is that a root and branch clear out may not be the best idea at this point, however, he does need to rid the squad of its deadwood.
There can be no passengers at the club, particularly over these next few months.
Still fit as a fiddle, as Trippier proved at Atleti during their La Liga title-winning season, he can still get up and down the right-hand channel for 90 minutes, and his crossing ability remains second to none.
He’ll fire the bullets, the Magpies just need someone to get on the end of what’s expected to be an unending supply of great crosses.
Howe noted his delight in the same statement, and he’ll almost certainly feel that he can finally start to get to work and put the pieces of the jigsaw in place to get Newcastle motoring once more.