The experienced defender will leave the Magpies when his contract expires in the summer
Newcastle United's Kieran Trippier
Kieran Trippier will leave Newcastle United at the end of the season
View 2 Images
There are few players who can claim to have had as big an impact on a football club than Kieran Trippier did when he joined Newcastle United in January 2022.
His decision to leave the club at the end of the season will bring to an end four-and-a-half years on Tyneside which has seen the Magpies transformed.
Let's the honest, despite the jubilation of the takeover some three months earlier, followed by Eddie Howe's appointment, United were heading for the Championship as the new year dawned with a relegation battle in full flow.
We had seen the blueprint Howe wanted to instil on his side in the first weeks of his reign, but the harsh truth was he didn't have the players to implement his ambitious plan.
That all changed in the January transfer window, and Trippier was the man who led the charge.
*Get Chronicle Premium now for just £1*HERE– exclusive news and features, our NUFC and Academy notebooks, John Gibson's columns plus an ad-lite experience****
Throughout the lengthy takeover priocess, fans dreamed of being able to sign Kylian Mbappe and world superstars thanks to the wealth of their new Saudi backers.
Of course that was never going to happen, even before anyone had heard of PSR, but the fact Trippier was ready to swap European nights with Spanish giants Atletico Madrid for a relegation scrap with Newcastle United spoke volumes.
His signature didn't just open the door for those who followed, it demolished the years of restraint the Mike Ashley era had symolised.
The fee of just £12m was an incredible piece of business by Newcastle, and hailed the start of what was to be become a roller-coaster ride which culminated in Carabao Cup silverware and Champions League heroics.
If his arrival change the landscape of what United could now achieve off the pitch, on it he changed the tone completely.
He didn't need to captain's armband to lead the side, but his experience was a huge factor in Newcastle's successful fight against the drop - and eventual mid-table finish.
He was Howe's voice on the pitch, holding players accountable, coaching others through the game and ensuring his own high standards were met across the field. His quality shone through and drove others forward.
His influence cannot be underestimated and while others followed to take the limelight, you have to wonder just what would have happened if United had got that transfer window wrong.
Fast forward three years and there was no one more deserving of walking up the Wembley steps to lift the Carabao Cup in March 2025 after that lung-busting performance against Liverpool.
That he shared the moment with Bruno Guimaraes and Jamaal Lascelles only serves to indicate what a team player Trippier is.
Bruno Guimaraes and Kieran Trippier lift the Carabao Cup Trophy after their team's victory in the Carabao Cup Final between Liverpool and Newcastle United at Wembley Stadium.
Bruno Guimaraes and Kieran Trippier lift the Carabao Cup trophy(Image: Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
View 2 Images
He was an intergral part of the solid backline which kept so many clean sheets in the 2022-23 campaign which earned United their first shot at the Champions League, but the arrival of Tino Livramento was always going to be a big challenge in the latter stages of his career.
Time catches up with everyone, but Trippier's influence both on and off the pitch continued to be a vital part of Howe's squad. Just ask any youngster at the club and they will namecheck the former Spurs man as a voice that will always be heeded.
Trippier's handing of the captain's armband to Geordie youngster Lewis Miley during the Champions League win over PSV earlier this year said it all.
Injuries to both Livramento and Lewis Hall has meant he perhaps played more football than he anticipated this season, but while the pace may be reduced, his experience carried him through.
The time feels right to annouce the parting of the ways. He will leave St James' Park as the first hero of the new era and with a place etched in United's history books for all time.
There are many who have contributed huge ammounts to the cause in the last four years, but never forget that Trippier got the ball rolling and changed the landcape forever.
For that, Newcastle United fans should always be grateful