England international right-back Kieran Trippier has left Tottenham Hotspur for Atletico Madrid after four years at the North London club.
The 28-year-old signed a three-year deal reportedly worth £20 million plus add-ons with the La Liga giants, becoming their first English player in 95 years.
Trippier had been linked with a Tottenham exit for the majority of the summer, but it appeared that manager Mauricio Pochettino wasn’t particularly keen to let him go just yet.
The Argentine has revealed that he only got to know the full-back had accepted to link up with Atletico a day before the squad left for their pre-season tour of Asia.
“It was Kieran’s decision,” the Argentine said about the defender’s exit during a press conference.
“He communicated the day before we travelled here and he told me that he accept an offer from Atletico Madrid and it was the club who communicated with me that they had agreed a deal.
“I wasn’t involved in this discussion in the last week.”
Spurs currently have the trio of Serge Aurier, Juan Foyth and Kyle Walker-Peters as the available right-back options following Trippier’s exit, and it remains to be seen if an addition will be brought.
Questions remain over the consistency of the Ivory Coast international, while he has also looked prone to injuries in recent months.
Foyth and Walker-Peters remain unproven, but they could prove themselves in the following weeks and convince Pochettino to stick with them for the right-back berth next term.
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