Eddie Howe: I want Kieran Trippier to stay at Newcastle – he has not told me he wants to leave

Eddie Howe has played down talk of Kieran Trippier leaving Newcastle United in this transfer window and expressed his hope that the England international stays at the club.

Trippier is understood to be unsettled on Tyneside and, as Telegraph Sport  revealed, has put his house in the region up for sale.

Everton, Italian club Atalanta and Turkish champions Galatasaray are all thought to have an interest in the defender, who is no longer guaranteed to be first choice at right-back because of the rise of the 21-year-old Tino Livramento.

But his manager was seemingly mystified by reports this week that the 33-year-old has asked to leave the club and said he has not had that conversation with him.

“The situation is business as usual,” said Howe, whose side travel to face his former club Bournemouth on Sunday. “Tripps has trained really well this week. I’m surprised at a lot of the stories that have come out [saying he wants to leave].

“He’s a valuable member of the squad. His professionalism has been first class. He’s trained really well since he came back from the Euros.

“He’s only had two weeks training, hence the decision to not start him at the weekend and Tino has had a very good pre-season. That’s the situation. He continues to be really valued by all of us.

“He hasn’t had to [say] if he wants to leave or stay. He’s trained as normal and he’s been very good. I’m not really sure where this has come from. He’s preparing as normal for the game on Saturday.

Asked if Tripper would remain at Newcastle beyond the end of the transfer window, Howe said: “I hope so. I can never answer these questions with absolute certainty because it is football and the transfer window is always unpredictable. But my wish is that he stays here and continues to play for us.”

It has been reported that one of the reasons Trippier is unhappy is that he has lost the captain’s armband to Bruno Guimaraes, but Howe tried to dismiss that argument too.

“A lot has been made of it,” he said. “It’s not that big a deal internally. Jamaal [Lascelles] is not going to be fit for a long period of time, so he has been promoted to club captain. He’s going to oversee the captaincy and is an incredible leader behind the scenes.

“Kieran and Dan [Burn] in the leadership group continue to lead and Bruno has been promoted. It’s a healthy group, there’s more people in it. The players are on the pitch and have to lead.”

Howe, though, did make sure he highlighted how important Trippier has been during his time as manager, having been his first signing back in January 2022 when he was recruited from Atlético Madrid.

“He’s played a huge role in changing the narrative around the team,” Howe explained. “When he first came in, we were in a very difficult position and it’s easy to forget that.

“He took a big risk to leave a huge football club and was having a successful period with them to come to a team battling relegation. Our relationship with him was pivotal and he galvanised the squad from the first day. His performances on the pitch also spoke volumes.

“There’s never any doubting his qualities as a player. He’s an outstanding player. We need as many outstanding players as we can here.

“He’s had two weeks’ training before the first game and you saw a lot of the international players from major tournaments left out of their respective teams [last weekend]”.