Speaking on the US TV Station ESPN, Craig Burley has been discussing some of Newcastle’s transfer business, including the signings of Matt Targett and Kieran Trippier.
The Magpies have done brilliantly to bolster their full-back positions with two proven stars who have plenty of Premier League experience between them.
Trippier and Targett are rather similar players in a lot of ways. They’re both brilliant at crossing from deep, and they’re also very solid from set-pieces.
Targett and Trippier have the ability to be one of the best full-back pairings in the country, but Burley believes that Trippier is the better player out of the two.
What’s Burley said about Targett and Trippier?
The pundit gave his view on Newcastle’s new full-back pairing.
“Matt Targett was a regular at Aston Villa until they signed Lucas Digne. That was obviously a position that Steven Gerrard wanted to improve in, but he’s still a solid player. So now, they’ve got two solid full-backs. Obviously with Trippier who is the better of the two players,” Burley said.
Competition
Whether or not you agree that Trippier is better than Targett, the fact that there’s a conversation to be had about this is rather exciting.
Internal competition can often push a player to that next level, just look at how Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane continue to push each other at Liverpool, and while full-back positions are different, these two can compete with each other.
They’re similar players, and they’ll both be trying to get plenty of assists and also fighting the right to take set-pieces.
Newcastle may have a very exciting duo on their hands here.
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