ESPN pundit so impressed by £12m Newcastle player after PSG win

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Craig Burley has lauded Kieran Trippier after his performance for Newcastle United in their incredible Champions League win over Paris Saint-Germain, insisting that he is not sure that there are many better full-backs in the game.

Burley was speaking on ESPN after the Magpies properly launched their European campaign with a 4-1 victory St James’ Park is going to remember for a very long time.

Kieran Trippier‘s battle with Kylian Mbappe appeared to be the crucial one going into the clash with PSG. Ultimately, there was a clear winner out of the two.

Trippier was superb for Newcastle. He threaded the pass through to Sean Longstaff for the third goal. And it was his free-kick which ultimately led to Newcastle’s second goal of the evening.

Craig Burley lauds Kieran Trippier after Newcastle win

No player on either side made more key passes than the England international, according to Whoscored. And Craig Burley suggested that the 33-year-old deserves enormous praise following his performance against Luis Enrique’s side.

“I don’t know if there’s many better eight or nine out of 10 full-backs week-in, week-out than Kieran Trippier. Kieran Trippier is one of the most rock solid professional footballers you could wish to meet. And we saw that again today,” he told ESPN.

“You just can’t allow him to traipse up and down that right wing. He’s not the most attacking full-back in the game. But guess what, he wants to defend, he wants to communicate, he will get forward, he’s great with set-pieces.

“And when you allow him just to run off lazy players like Mbappe and he’s got the whole evening to pick a pass to Longstaff, that’s what he’s going to do.”

The Magpies’ game-changer

Trippier is rightly going to be remembered as a game-changing signing in this era for Newcastle. When he signed – for just £12 million – many were scratching their heads wondering why he was choosing to leave Atletico Madrid.

At the time, Newcastle looked to be destined for the Championship. But not only did the Magpies benefit from Trippier joining, but it also sent out a message to some of their other targets that Howe’s men are going to get themselves out of trouble.

Less than two years later, Newcastle are enjoying a famous night in the Champions League. And you would think that there are going to be many more to come in the weeks, months and years ahead.

It was fitting that Trippier was at the heart of the Magpies’ performance on Wednesday night. He is continuing to perform at such a high level at this stage of his career.

Certainly, Newcastle bringing him to St James’ Park has proved to be an absolute masterstroke.