Newcastle: Howe may 'try something different' with Livramento at St James' Park

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·29 September 2023

Newcastle: Howe may 'try something different' with Livramento at St James' Park

Highlights

Newcastle United boss Eddie Howe faces a positive dilemma with the signing of Tino Livramento and could utilise his versatility in the back four alongside Kieran Trippier.
Livramento's impressive performance against Manchester City suggests he could make the left-back spot his own, potentially challenging Trippier for a starting position.
Despite the setback of Harvey Barnes' long-term injury, Newcastle's summer signings, including Livramento, have strengthened their squad and demonstrate Howe's intentions to build a competitive team.

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Newcastle United boss Eddie Howe has been given a positive headache by signing former Southampton and Chelsea gem Tino Livramento, though journalist Ben Jacobs has offered a winning solution, while speaking to GIVEMESPORT.

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Howe’s outfit have endured a difficult run of fixtures in the opening six weeks of the new Premier League season but have fared relatively well and now sit in eighth place.

On the back of securing Champions League qualification in 2022/23, Howe will be yearning to emulate similar results as they look to establish themselves as top four dwellers. Despite losing three games on the trot to Manchester City, Liverpool and Brighton & Hove Albion, Newcastle quickly re-aligned their form with an 8-0 drubbing over Sheffield United.

Eight different scorers got in on the act in a more-than-impressive showing, but it marked summer signing Livramento’s second domestic appearance for his new club. Over the summer, the Magpies secured his signature in deal worth up to £40m, and he will reportedly earn £50,000 per week during his stay up north.

A right-back by trade, the London-born star has been taken under the wing of the impressive Howe in order to get his career firmly off the ground. During his time at Chelsea, the 20-year-old had difficulties worming himself into first team proceedings and as such, opted for a move away for increased game time at Southampton.

Tino Livramento - Career Statistics

Team

Games

Goals

Assists

Yellow Cards

Red Cards

Southampton

34

1

2

0

Chelsea U21

30

3

8

4

1

Chelsea U18

22

1

6

1

0

Newcastle United

3

0

Chelsea UEFA U19

2

0

1

0

Southampton U21

1

0

All statistics per Transfermarkt

An injury-stricken stint at the south coast restricted him to just 34 topflight appearances, though Saints’ relegation-worthy campaign in 2022/23 has allowed some of their brightest assets – Livramento included – to seek pastures new. With just 114 minutes of action under his belt since his well-deserved move, Jones has told GIVEMESPORT how Newcastle may increase his involvement moving forward.

Eddie Howe could change set-up to utilise both Livramento and Trippier – Ben Jacobs

While speaking about the 20-year-old, the transfer insider suggested that both his and Kieran Trippier’s versatility along the back four could benefit Howe’s defensive conundrum. Referencing his positive performance against Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City, Jones insisted that he could make the left-back spot his own. The reliable reporter told GIVEMESPORT…

“In terms of Tino Livramento’s development going forwards, the most interesting thing is really where he plays and how often he plays because we all know that for big games at least, when Kieran Trippier is fit, he's likely to be the starting right back. “But Trippier can, in theory, play on the left-hand side and Livramento can, in theory, play on the left-hand side, so I think Newcastle's aim will be to get Livramento learning from Kieran Trippier, but also in training try to give Eddie Howe selection headaches. Because as I said, you could argue that Livramento and Trippier can both play in the back four on the left and the right rather than Livramento only being seen as an understudy to Kieran Trippier. “And if Livramento continues to progress and play as well as he did against Manchester City, then Eddie Howe might be tempted to try something a little bit different because the left back situation for Newcastle is still very open.”

Eddie Howe issues injury update - Harvey Barnes out for three months

As exciting as Livramento’s switch is to the St James’ Park faithful, he wasn’t the only fresh face to arrive in Tyneside over the summer, however, as Howe and his backroom staff spent a whopping £132m, per Transfermarkt, on the likes of Sandro Tonali and Harvey Barnes, though the latter has now been ruled out for the rest of the season.

The £39m man arrived at the club with every intention to cement himself in the forefront of Howe’s plans, but his progression had now stagnated thanks to his latest injury concern. Formerly of Leicester City, the 25-year-old winger was seen limping off a mere 12 minutes into Newcastle’s recent eight-goal triumph over Sheffield United. Post-match, The Guardian had reported that Barnes was expected to spend a lengthy spell on the touchline, be it months not weeks.

Now, per BBC Sport, he will be out of action for a minimum of three months, despite a medical scan showing he had not suffered any sort of foot fracture. Adding to that, Howe claimed that his foot in now in a protective boot and how the club plan to re-integrate him (via Sky Sports):

"We think he's going to be out for around three months. No surgery required, which is good news, but his foot is now in a boot. "It is an injury underneath his toe and he's now started his recovery. I think he's going to be quite sedate for a period of time because he's got to rest the toe, he's got to give it every chance to recover, and then we'll have to build him up slowly, so that's why it's the three months."