Kieran Trippier expects Euro 2024 to be his last major tournament with England – and he has already identified his replacement, Newcastle team-mate Tino Livramento. 

The full-back will miss Monday’s trip to Chelsea with a minor calf complaint and Livramento, 21, is set to deputise, returning to the club where he spent 12 years as an academy player.

Trippier has kept the younger man in reserve for much of this season but, when he has played, he has been outstanding, scoring his first goal during last weekend’s 3-0 win at home to Wolves.

‘He’s versatile, right-back, left-back, like myself. He’ll be unbelievable for Newcastle in the future, and an England right-back as well – that is how highly I rate him.’

Kieran Trippier expects Euro 2024 to be his last major tournament with England

Trippier will miss the forthcoming friendlies against Brazil and Belgium but has his sights set on winning the European Championship in Germany, especially as the finals are likely to be his last.

‘It (Euro 2024) is massive, because the next tournament I’ll be 35, so you’ve got to be realistic if I’d make that one,’ he said. ‘It’s highly likely (I won’t) because of the players in my position, you’ve got to respect that.

‘So hopefully we can go that one step further and bring it home. We can’t be afraid to say that we can win it. We should be going there positive – not arrogant, but positive. When you see our squad, we’ve got an unbelievable squad. We’ve got to have that mentality to win it.’

Meanwhile, Trippier says he can find no reason for his ‘crazy’ loss of form before Christmas, and he was even more surprised when Bayern Munich tried to sign him in January.

He was asleep in New York when his phone buzzed with word of interest from the Bundesliga giants. England team-mate and Bayern striker Harry Kane was soon texting him asking if the stories were true.

We understand Trippier would have spoken to Bayern had the Magpies decided to accept an offer, but he did not agitate to go and reiterated to Eddie Howe and the owners his happiness at St James’ Park. A final bid of £13million was rejected, roughly the same fee Newcastle paid Atletico Madrid to sign the defender two years ago.

Trippier has already identified his replacement, Newcastle team-mate Tino Livramento

‘I was in New York and I was woken up at 5am saying, “Bayern Munich want to sign you”,’ reflected Trippier. ‘I was like, “This is a bit random”. I never thought at 33 years old that Bayern Munich would want to sign me, so it was more of a shock to me than anybody.

‘I take it as a compliment. It’s a massive club – I think plenty of other players would have jumped at the chance to go to Bayern, and that’s fact. But I’ve been loyal to the cub and my family is important – travelling to three different countries in three years, it’s not really ideal, is it?

‘I got on the phone to the manager straight away and he knows the commitment I’ve got for the club. I never once tried to force a move out of the club. I’m here now and the owners know the commitment I have shown.’

Was Kane trying to encourage him to go?

‘No, he wasn’t pushing, he was just texting, “Is it true?”, and telling me it’s warmer than Newcastle!’ said Trippier. ‘But I speak to Harry all the time. He wasn’t trying to tap me up, as we say. It just wasn’t the right thing for me.’

Bayern’s move came on the back of a month in which Trippier made a series of uncharacteristic mistakes. He was at fault for two goals during a 3-0 defeat at Everton and it was his error that led to Chelsea’s stoppage-time equaliser in the Carabao Cup quarter-final at Chelsea. He then missed in the penalty-shootout defeat.

Why did December go so wrong?

‘Do you know what? I don’t actually know,’ said Trippier, recently voted North-East player of the year by the region’s football writers.

‘It was a strange one, really. I was just making a mistake and then making another mistake. I haven’t got any excuses, really. It’s just you make a mistake and you want to try even better and then, because you’re trying so hard, you make another mistake, and it’s not me.’

Mail Sport awarded Trippier a merit mark of just three out of 10 at Everton.

‘I think that’s generous!’ laughed Trippier. ‘I thought I was having an okay game until that point (first error), and then that’s how quickly football changes, that’s the reality. That game was madness, it was crazy. But I had a break, reflected and turned a corner.’