Newcastle United’s Kieran Trippier should return to action this season, according to The Daily Mail’s Craig Hope.
The lowdown
The £12m January signing from Atletico Madrid broke a bone in his foot during Sunday’s 1-0 Premier League win over Aston Villa at St James’ Park.
The right-back had scored what proved to be a match-winning free-kick in the first half, and The Chronicle’s Lee Ryder has said that the injury feels like a ‘hammer blow’ to Magpies manager Eddie Howe.
The latest
Hope says that Newcastle are unsure precisely how long Trippier will be sidelined, but offered fans the reassurance that the 31-year-old is expected to return before the end of the campaign.
He tweeted: “The good news I’m told is that, while there is no timescale yet, it is not thought to be a season-ending injury.”
The verdict
According to The Athletic’s Chris Waugh, the problem typically takes between two and three months to heal.
On that basis, we could estimate that Trippier will miss at least eight matches, including a potential relegation six-pointer away at Brentford on 26 February, but he could be back for a run-in which includes possibly crucial trips to Norwich City and Burnley.
The Englishman has only just arrived at Newcastle but he already looks like one of their best players, averaging a squad-high SofaScore rating of 7.68/10. Allan Saint-Maximin is a long way back in second place at 7.0.
In addition to his two free-kick goals, Trippier is averaging 1.5 key passes, 3.5 tackles and 2.5 interceptions per 90 minutes, so Hope’s proclamation that the right-back may feature again this season will offer a crumb of comfort to Magpies fans who may have feared a longer lay-off.
In other news, David Ornstein provided an update on this Newcastle-linked figure on Monday