Even though Kieran Trippier will always be remembered as one of the greatest players of the Sean Dyche era, Burnley’s meagre £3.5 million purchase price will be painful to consider his subsequent career.
Originally signed on loan from Manchester City, Trippier was a bit of an unknown quantity when he first joined Turf Moor in the summer of 2011 to replace the departing Tyrone Mears.
Trippier became a vital element of Burnley’s squad, and a few months later, in January 2012, Burnley made his loan permanent. The rest is history, as they say.
He did it under two different managers. Howe stayed popular under Sean Dyche once he returned to Bournemouth, and it was Dyche who miraculously changed Trippier’s life by helping him kick a drinking and partying habit that the Newcastle player has acknowledged influenced his career.
In addition to helping Burnley stay in the league in 2012–13, he was a key member of the promotion team in 2013–14, earning him two consecutive appearances in the PFA Championship Team of the Year. His time at Turf Moor was also incredibly successful.
But once the Clarets were relegated, he was only supposed to remain at Turf Moor for one more season, establishing himself in the Premier League before Tottenham approached and snapped him up for £3.5m.
Trippier became a household name at Burnley
Trippier was undoubtedly a lesser-known player when he joined Turf Moor, but under Dyche, his reputation started to soar, especially in the 2013–14 campaign when he helped Burnley gain promotion with 12 assists.
Trippier, the quintessential wing-back, was renowned for his ability to deliver the ball. He would bomb up and down the right-hand side and bring balls into the box, which was frequently Burnley’s outlet.
His size was a bit of a problem for a defender, and his defensive prowess was undoubtedly in doubt prior to Dyche joining Burnley.
However, Dyche addressed that and made him the ideal modern-day full-back—someone who wasn’t bashful but could move forward and join the attacks of placing his head in the painful area.
He played a key role in the Clarets’ unsuccessful effort to escape relegation in 2014–15, but that turned out to be his shop window moment because his £3.5 million release clause was his ticket back to the big time once their relegation was confirmed.
Trippier’s career exploded after leaving Burnley
Tottenham Hotspur was the fortunate team to employ the extremely low-cost release clause. Trippier had a mediocrely successful tenure in North London, making 114 appearances but, most significantly, helping the team advance to the 2019 Champions League final.
From there, Atlético Madrid came calling, which perhaps wasn’t a great surprise seeing Dyche and Diego Simeone were often compared as managers who had similar footballing beliefs.
He added the only trophy of his career to date whilst playing in Spain, part of their La Liga winning side in 2020/21.
The Manchester City youth product came close to more silverware after his move to Newcastle in 2021/22, when he was key in them reaching the 2022/23 EFL Cup final, only to lose out to Manchester United.
He’s played in the Champions League on Tyneside though and remains there to this day, where he’s battling to get the Toon army back onto the continent.
Trippier has had international recognition too, racking up 54caps and providing most England fans with a moment that will last a lifetime when his World Cup semi-final free-kick against Croatia hit the back of the net in 2018.
The pain of losing one of their best players in a generation for £3.5 million will be far worse than the pain of two unsuccessful attempts to reach the Euro final in 2020 and 2024.
Leave a Reply