Kieran Trippier raised plenty of eyebrows when he completed his move from Atletico Madrid to Newcastle United this week.It's easy to see why many fans are confused when the England international has swapped a place in the Champions League knockout rounds for a desperate fight to avoid Championship football.However, the debate just isn't as simple as that with Trippier having several other factors, many of which are distinctly human in nature, to consider when he sealed his return to the Premier League.
Trippier moves to Newcastle
One of the most widely-touted reasons concerns his family situation, but there is also the debate as to whether or not Trippier jumped at an improved financial deal courtesy of Newcastle's new owners.
Now, it's important to say emphasise that even in a world where that is the case, that's by no means inherently a bad thing. Lest we forget that footballers are humans too...
But despite Trippier giving a very clear answer on the topic at his Newcastle press conference on Friday, which we'll get on to later, it's apparent that the debate has been raging for some time now.
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Jordan and Sinclair's heated debate
In fact, just a few days before the ink officially dried on Trippier's contract at St. James' Park, Simon Jordan and Trevor Sinclair were fighting tooth and nail about the potential financial motivations.
While Sinclair took the more romantic road of preaching Newcastle's great history and the exciting new project at hand, Jordan seemed completely convinced that Trippier had grabbed the money.
The talkSPORT debate that it created was quite something to behold with the footage amassing more than 1,000 retweets, 1,600 comments and almost 5,000 'likes' at the time of writing.
And now that Trippier is officially through the door in the north-east, the debate arguably makes for even better viewing, so be sure to check out Jordan and Sinclair exchanging leather down below:
Does anyone else feel like they need to take a breather? Wow, that was intense.
Jordan mugging off Sinclair about China
The debate certainly peaked when Jordan casually mugged off Sinclair about wage caps in the Chinese Super League, so be sure to relive that most amusing back and forth in the clash below:
Sinclair: "Why does it have to be about money? It's a fantastic football club. You remember when Les Ferdinand, Ginola, Asprilla played. Don't you think that's what they're going to try and do again?"
Jordan: "Of course they are because they have a big bag of money. But for Trippier, he is going for one reason and one reason only. The economic package suits him at this stage of his career. That's the end of the discussion."
Sinclair: "So why is he not going to China? Shut up Simon, you're talking rubbish. He would go to China if he wanted money."
Jordan: "I'm going to give you an answer to that question Trevor while I'm talking rubbish. Because the Chinese have capped wages, go do some research before you accuse people of 'talking rubbish'."
Sinclair: "They'd still give him a whole heap of money."
Jordan: "They wouldn't."
Sinclair: "They would."
Jordan: "He wouldn't be getting anywhere near what he's getting at Newcastle. That's why they're not going to China anymore Trev, go do your research and come back with a valid argument."
It certainly was a popcorn-worthy argument where Jordan landed many of the biggest punches regardless of whether his instincts that Trippier has opted for the financial package is right or not.
Did Trippier go for the money?
So, what does the man himself say about the hypothesis? Well, it should come as no surprise that Trippier was faced with that very question now that he's playing for the world's richest club.
According to the Mirror, Trippier responded when he was asked if he moved to Newcastle for the money: “I fight for the shirt. People are entitled to their opinion.
"The most important thing was for my family to come back to England and especially the North. If people say it is for money they can have their opinion but I have my reasons.
“Is it a brave decision? I had the same question before I went to Madrid. People said it was a risk and I shouldn’t make that move.
“I took the risk of going to Spain, and I believed in myself. I am brave, I like to take chances and challenges. I am not afraid to come here and fight for the club to get us higher.
“I am still ambitious. I want to get in the England team and I feel I can still handle the pressure. I am in good shape.”
Sure, Trippier wasn't exactly going to say flat-out that he'd joined for the money, so it's still likely to have been a factor, but the important thing to remember is that it's not something to be stigmatised.
As a 31-year-old moving back to England with their family after two years away in Spain, it would hardly be outrageous for him to want to squeeze as much out of his football career as possible.
