Trippier

Wolves are close to signing former England international Kieran Trippier.

The 35-year-old has verbally agreed to move to Molineux on a free transfer after his departure from Newcastle.

He is expected to sign a two-year deal, with the option of a further 12 months, to become Rob Edwards’ first summer signing.

Trippier is leaving Newcastle at the end of his contract this summer having spent four-and-a-half years at St James’ Park, making 160 appearances and scoring four goals.

He helped them win the Carabao Cup in 2025, the Magpies’ first silverware since 1955.

Right-back Trippier won La Liga with Atletico Madrid in 2020-21 and was a Champions League runner up in 2019 with Tottenham.

He won 54 England caps, scoring in the 2018 World Cup semi final and starting the Euro 2020 final, before retiring from international duty in 2024.

Wolves are rebuilding after finishing bottom of the Premier League and have targeted more experience, with homegrown signings the priority.

The club’s hierarchy recognise they did not have enough experience or players who understood the club’s culture.

Wolves, who won just three top flight games to end their eight-year stay in the division, have no room in their squad for any non-homegrown players before further departures.

Goalkeeper Jose Sa and forward Hwang Hee-chan are expected to leave along with midfielder Ladislav Krejci but Mateus Mane is due to stay at Molineux after a breakthrough season.

His approach should not come as a surprise.

Trippier admitted it will be “emotional” to leave Newcastle at the end of his contract, after spending longer at the club than anywhere else in his senior career.

He is determined to end his four-and-a-half-year spell on a high, and could even come back into the side for a final run following injuries to Lewis Miley and Tino Livramento.

There is likely to be a familiar look to the team which lines up against Nottingham Forest on Sunday, as a result.

Nick Pope, Trippier, Dan Burn, Bruno Guimaraes, Joelinton, Sandro Tonali, Joe Willock and Jacob Murphy could start. They all featured when Newcastle ended a 70-year wait for a major domestic trophy by winning the EFL Cup last season.

It was Trippier who set up Burn’s opener in the 2-1 win against Liverpool in the final, before he went on to lift the trophy alongside skipper Guimaraes and previous club captain Jamaal Lascelles at Wembley.

But that had not necessarily been part of Trippier’s “selfless” plan, as former team-mate Callum Wilson explained.

“He was not interested in lifting the trophy,” said the striker, who is now at West Ham.

“It took myself and a few other senior players to say, ‘Go on, get your hands on the trophy and lift it with everybody – all three of you do it together because it’s a team effort’.

“Ultimately, he played a big part in that as well so I felt like that moment really summed him up as a character.”

Such a prospect felt a long way off when the pair spoke on FaceTime to discuss relegation-threatened Newcastle‘s plight – several weeks before Trippier joined the club from Atletico Madrid in January 2022.

The right-back proved a catalyst, as the first signing in the aftermath of the club’s Saudi-led takeover, and convinced others like Guimaraes to follow in the mid-season window.

Yet Trippier’s decision to swap life in the Champions League for an immediate survival battle led to accusations of greed externally.

The reality was a little different.

The Bury native wanted to return to the north of England for personal reasons and took a pay cut to reunite with head coach Eddie Howe, who he previously worked with at Burnley.

There was not even a relegation release clause in his contract.

Rather than being a mercenary, the La Liga title winner’s standards, approach to training and desire to help lifted a group which had only recorded a single victory up to that point.

Trippier’s presence behind the scenes quickly struck former team-mate Jonjo Shelvey.

“He’s a natural leader,” the ex-Newcastle midfielder said.

“He made a move at a time when the club was struggling and came in with his know-how and knowledge, and helped us massively.”