It has been a real nightmare season for Kieran Trippier in North London, as the England defender has struggled to maintain any sort of fitness or form in the first team.
Man are now calling for Tripps to be sold, with a number of clubs said to be interested in signing him.
However, I believe that Trippier should be given another chance, and here are five reasons why:
Home grown – Trippier is English and grew up in England, as we all know, which means he qualifies as a homegrown player. Spurs struggled to name a full compliment of homegrown stars this season, and as a result, Trippier has much more value to the squad than say Serge Aurier. Aurier has also been a liability in defence, and was moved along from PSG for being a less than charming character. Spurs should sell the Ivorian and bring in a new, young, English right back.
Injuries – A large part of Trippier’s awful season has been down to poor fitness and niggling injuries. This stems from playing at the World Cup with England, as Tripps was injured in the semi-final against Croatia. Determined to continue representing his country, Trippier still played in the third-place playoff just a few days later, making the injury worse. The right-back then had no pre-season to recover, and has been struggling to regain form ever since. I think he should be given a fresh start next season to show us what he can do.
Experience – If Tottenham manage to bring in a player like Aaron Wan-Bissaka in the summer, they will be in need of some experience within their ranks. Having Trippier, even as a second-choice, would be valuable next to Walker-Peters and Wan-Bissaka, two very young and inexperienced players. Trippier could then be utilised in pressure games, in which he has vast experience.
Sale – The number £40m has been thrown about of late for Trippier, but Spurs are unlikely to get anything close to this for the right back. After a bad season at Tottenham, Spurs would be lucky to fetch half that for Tripps at the moment. For the sake of £15m-£20m, it seems more sense to keep the player and nurse back his form and confidence.
Quality – If Tottenham can get Trippier back to his best, they have one hell of a player on their hands. Whilst he isn’t the greatest defensively, his pin-point first-time passing and accurate crosses are a huge asset for the time, particularly when he plays right wing back. We saw at the World Cup and in the first few games of the season what Trippier can do, and it would be a waste to sell him now, just because of one bad campaign.
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