Kieran Trippier completes transfer to Atletico Madrid

After four seasons and 114 games, Kieran Trippier’s Tottenham Hotspur career is over. The BBC announced that the Bury-born fullback has completed his transfer to La Liga club Atletico Madrid in a deal said to be worth around £20m.

Update: the club has now weighed in as well and made its official farewell tweet.

Rumors had been swirling around Trippier since Spurs finished the season, with many reports suggesting that Mauricio Pochettino was considering moving him on as part of an ongoing shakeup at Tottenham. Now Trips, 29, will get to reinvent himself in a new league and with a new club, moving to an Atletico side who considers him a replacement for the recently departed Juanfran.

Spurs signed Trippier from Burnley for £4.4m in the summer of 2015 where he was the understudy to Kyle Walker. He was widely admired for his knack for getting forward as an attacking right back and for his ability to ping in crosses from the flanks (which earned him the nickname “the Bury Beckham”), and he did lots of that as a Spurs player. After Walker’s departure for Manchester City, Trippier assumed the role of first choice right back at Spurs and kept that position until his own departure.

Despite that, Trippier was seen as a somewhat polarizing figure among Tottenham fans, with some praising his offensive ability while others decrying a penchant for seemingly making critical defensive errors in important matches. Trippier’s high water mark probably came in the 2018 World Cup for England where he was undoubtedly fantastic as a wingback in front of a back three.

Atletico is a very good place for Trippier to land, and he could do very well there. La Liga is a little bit slower than the Premier League, something that could work to Trips’ advantage as he heads towards the latter part of his career. He is joining a team that is behind Real Madrid and Barcelona, but comfortably the third best team in Spain, and one that competes in the Champions League almost every season. It might not be England, but it’s a good move.

£20m is a very good return for a player whom Mauricio Pochettino fullback-whispered into one of the better right backs in the Premier League over four seasons, but at 29 years old it’s hard to argue that now isn’t a good time to cash in and move on. For now, Spurs have Serge Aurier and Kyle Walker-Peters as dedicated right backs and Juan Foyth as another option; this may yet change as the transfer window hurtles on.

Best of luck to Trippier as he makes his way as one of the few Englishmen to play in the Spanish league!