WHEN Kieran Trippier made the life-changing decision to join Atletico Madrid in 2019, there were plenty of people telling him the move was doomed to failure.

Trippier had never previously played outside of England, couldn’t speak a word of Spanish and was heading to a foreign country without the company of his wife and two young children at a time when his place in the England squad was already coming under threat. Atletico Madrid had not signed an English player in almost a century and seemed destined to spend the whole of the full-back’s three-year contract in the shadow of Real Madrid and Barcelona.

Fast forward two-and-a-half years, and it is safe to say the prophesies of doom proved unfounded. Trippier settled into life in Madrid and played some of the best football of his career. Atletico broke the established duopoly at the top of the Spanish game, culminating in last season’s remarkable La Liga title success. And while the likes of Reece James and Trent Alexander-Arnold might have established themselves as two of the best right-backs in the world, Trippier still played a pivotal role in England’s run to the final of last summer’s European Championships.

So, while a host of pundits have been falling over themselves to describe the 31-year-old’s move to Newcastle United which was confirmed yesterday as a gamble or a challenge, Trippier knows better than to listen. Having already come through one supposedly career-threatening move with flying colours, he is more than happy to tackle another.

“I’m the type of player who loves challenges,” said Trippier, who is hoping to make his Newcastle debut in this afternoon’s FA Cup third-round tie with Cambridge United. “I had a challenge to go to Atletico Madrid, changing countries and going to a different league, and now I’m at Newcastle. I know the position they’re in, but I’m here to help as much as I can.

“People looked at me going to Spain as a challenge, but the last couple of months at Tottenham were difficult, and I needed a new challenge. People looked at that as a risk, but me as a player, I’m brave, I like a fight and I’m willing to do anything to succeed.

“Again, people might think it’s a risk coming here to Newcastle, but I don’t, I just see it as a new challenge. It’s an exciting time for me, at this stage of my career.”

Given the financial clout of Newcastle’s new Saudi Arabia-backed owners, it is inevitable that some regard Trippier’s decision to become the first signing of the Magpies’ new era as a move motivated solely by money.

The former Burnley and Tottenham defender insists that is not the case, with the opportunity to move much closer to his family, who never left the North-West, the key driver to swap the last 16 of the Champions League for the bottom three positions in the Premier League table.

The Northern Echo: Atletico Madrid’s Kieran Trippier has been banned for 10 weeks (Bernat Armangue/AP)

Having spoken extensively to Eddie Howe, and also briefly chatted with Newcastle’s new owners, Trippier also insists he is excited by the long-term possibilities of what joining the ‘richest club in the world’ could lead to.

“The players who have played with me, and the managers I’ve worked with before, know what type of character I am,” he said. “Everybody is entitled to their own opinion, but the most important thing for me is my family, and it was important for them to come back to England at some point, especially the North or England.

“I know why I’ve come here. I’ve come here to help the team and be part of the project. Everything about it. If people say it’s about money, then everyone’s entitled to their own opinion, but I’ve got my reasons, I know my reasons why, and that’s not one of them.”

Would that still apply if Newcastle were to find themselves in the Championship next season? Howe strongly hinted yesterday that Trippier’s deal does not include a release clause in the event of relegation, and the defender claims he will not be thinking of what next season might bring until the current campaign is at an end.

“I’m not focusing on what could happen in a few months’ time,” he said. “I’m feeling very positive and the rest of the players are feeling positive too. You can see that from the atmosphere around the place.

“We just need to take it game by game until the end of the season. I’m certainly not focusing on three or four months’ ahead now. Right now, the main aim is obviously staying in the Premier League. We've got good players, a good manager, and we believe we can stay up."