Eddie Howe calls £32 million “very, very good.” A Newcastle player has lately excelled in training

Eddie Howe says £32m Newcastle player has been amazing in training recently

Newcastle United fans got their first real look at their next big superstar on Wednesday night as Tino Livramento made his first start for the club.

Tino Livramento has had to be patient in his opening few months at Newcastle. The £32million summer signing from Southampton had only made two brief cameos in the Premier League before starting against Manchester City in Wednesday night’s Carabao Cup clash.

Picking up the Player of the Match award, it’s fair to say that it was worth the wait.

Livramento was excellent against Grealish and Doku

Livramento handled Jack Grealish and Jeremy Doku like someone who’d been playing the game at the highest level for years. The 20-year-old showed us exactly why Eddie Howe was so persistent in his pursuit of him this summer.

Now, Eddie Howe has shared just how impressive Livramento has been in training since arriving, saying (via The Athletic): “Behind the scenes, he’s been very, very good. I don’t think you can come in and give that performance if you’re not training well and applying yourself to your work.

“He’s understood his position. He’s come back from a long injury (out over a year before coming off the bench after 77 minutes of Southampton’s final two matches of last season), so you have to take that into account.

“This period for him where he’s learning how the team plays is a really good moment for you if you look at it that way. Then when you get your chance you have to take it. He’s done that.”

Newcastle now have the perfect long-term replacement for Trippier

Howe alluded to Livramento’s big injury lay-off which was a cause for concern amongst fans as not every player returns to their best after an ACL injury, however, Livramento doesn’t seem to have lost anything.

If this is a sign of things to come, then it looks like Newcastle’s recruitment team have done an excellent job in snapping up a future replacement for Kieran Trippier, and with Harrison Ashby as back-up, the future looks good.

It’s good to know that in the short term, Howe can rest Trippier if he needs to knowing that he has more than adequate cover now.