Newcastle hero Warren Barton is convinced Kieran Trippier can kickoff the club’s new era.

Barton, now 52, linked up with United from Wimbledon in June 1995 – becoming the most expensive defender in the country at the time.

His capture set the tone for an exciting summer in the transfer market where the Magpies were concerned, with Les Ferdinand, David Ginola and Shaka Hislop – all key cogs in Keegan’s machine over the season which followed – following in his footsteps over the subsequent days and weeks.

Now, more than 25 years on, Barton is hopeful that Trippier’s signing will kick-start a similar trend.

“I go back to when I signed, and Les signed two days later, David about ten days later, and then Shaka,” Barton recalled, chatting to nufc.co.uk in the hours leading up to Trippier’s Magpies bow. “And then Tino Asprilla and David Batty signed not long after that. There was a knock-on effect, and with Kieran coming, there’s a little bit of ‘I want to be a part of that’ (among other players).

“Everybody wants the strikers and those sorts of players, but Kieran Trippier is a proper player. He’s a really good player. He’s an England international, he’s very versatile, he can play in a four at the back or he can play in a three. He’s in his prime, he looks very fit, and he wants to be in (this year’s) World Cup squad. He wants to play and he’s great with set-pieces.

“He’s one of the only players from Britain who’s gone across to Europe and been successful. He won La Liga with Atlético, which is a league normally dominated by Real Madrid and Barcelona. Atlético have gone and broken that up.

“He’s played under Diego Simeone, who’s so astute tactically – probably one of the most astute coaches in the world. He’s learnt from him, and now he’s come back to a club who are struggling, but he wants to be a part of it going forward. People might talk about the wages, but when people like Sergio Agüero, Yaya Touré and David Silva went to Manchester City, they went there for the project. That’s the game we’re in now.”

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