Tino Livramento: Newcastle's long-term solution at right-back but thriving on the left

New York Times

11-04-2025

When Newcastle United committed £40million (then $50m) to sign Tino Livramento in 2023, they believed they were investing in England's future first-choice right-back.
Detailed scouting reports were compiled while extensive due diligence was carried out to assess whether the then-2o-year-old had physically recovered from a complicated ACL injury.
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Aside from a couple of appearances for Chelsea Under-23s, there was little evidence that Livramento could be an accomplished performer at left-back. Newcastle's recruitment department knew he could potentially cover there in an emergency, but Livramento was signed for his huge promise as an attacking right-back — not because he could play both sides.
The 22-year-old's excellent performances at left-back over the past two seasons, therefore, have pleasantly surprised everyone, including Eddie Howe. 'Arguably, if anything, he has attacked better there than he has off the right,' Howe said this month.
Regardless, as impressive as Livramento has been at left-back, he was always signed to be Kieran Trippier's successor. While the path towards that outcome has not always been linear, that is still where Newcastle believe Livramento's long-term future lies.
For now, however, Livramento is proving to be a timely, if unplanned, solution on the left.
Rewind a month and the feeling among Newcastle supporters about their left-hand side was markedly different.
Deflation had taken hold following confirmation that Anthony Gordon and Lewis Hall would miss the Carabao Cup final due to suspension and injury respectively, depriving Newcastle of their starting left flank — from which much of their attacking output had originated.
Yet, in the four matches across all competitions since, Newcastle have won all four, including at Wembley, with Harvey Barnes providing two assists and a goal as Gordon's replacement, while Livramento has been among their best performers as Hall's stand-in, including laying on Jacob Murphy's opener at Leicester on Monday (below).
'Outstanding,' was Alan Shearer's description of Livramento, when selecting the defender in his Premier League team of the week.
Given his consummate performances at left-back last season, Livramento's seamless transition was not wholly unexpected. His mazy dribbles — the most notable of which came during the build-up to Alexander Isak's opener against Paris Saint-Germain (below) — and rapid recovery pace provided protection for Gordon.
But, despite making his England debut against the Republic of Ireland in November, Livramento's form at right-back this season has not been especially eye-catching. Defensively, he has performed consistently, but in attack he has appeared hesitant at times, failing to create a goal from his natural flank.
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He did, however, start the season as first-choice right-back. That was partly because Trippier's future was uncertain and also due to their respective fitness levels, given the 34-year-old had a truncated pre-season following Euro 2024.
Livramento, meanwhile, who was recovering from an ankle injury, spent some of the off-season in Greece at Mykonos Performance with his friend Jamal Musiala, the Bayern Munich forward.
The Newcastle defender supplemented his holiday at the Charisma Wellness Hotel with two 10-day training camps, after Jonny King, Newcastle's physio, contacted Mykonos Performance. There, Livramento enjoyed some down time to mentally recharge, while also focusing on his rehabilitation, including using ice baths and NormaTec air-compression equipment, designed to aid muscle recovery by improving circulation.
'Tino is very experienced for his age and understands the benefits of 'prehab' (prehabilitation) and extra work which give you the edge physically,' says Jordan Demetriou, director of performance at Mykonos Performance. 'He's had to learn through the tough times from a young age, after his ACL and ankle injuries, so he's ahead of what you would expect understanding-wise for his age.
'He knew that this was going to be a big season for him, competing with Trippier and trying to break into the England squad, and he was determined to ensure he put in all the work so he was ready to hit the ground running in pre-season.'
Physically, that proved to be the case and Livramento has been preferred to Trippier at right-back throughout much of the campaign. Although he has failed to capture the headlines at right-back, he has been dependable.
Interestingly, Livramento's output is extremely similar whether he plays at left-back or right-back, as the graphic below shows. Aside from greater chance creation and expected assists (xA) per 90, he performs marginally better across most metrics on his natural right.
Livramento actually finds himself in crossing positions less frequently at left-back (shown below), which explains why he makes fewer crosses per 90. That is despite Newcastle's attacks being split equally 37 per cent down each flank across the season, according to WhoScored.com.
Perversely, those figures do not necessarily correlate with the 'eye test', however. Livramento has at least appeared more influential offensively down the left.
Partly, that opinion may be affected by recency bias and also because of the smaller sample size of matches he has played on that flank.
Yet there are further factors which help explain why Livramento has seemed more effective down the left. Whereas Miguel Almiron previously played as an inverted winger on the right, during this campaign, conventional right-sided players like Murphy have been deployed by Howe. That has restricted the space Livramento can advance into out wide, limiting crossing opportunities.
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Since switching to the left, he has been behind Barnes, a right-footer who naturally looks to move inside, allowing Livramento to go outside to the byline. As his confidence has grown, Livramento has become more willing to cross with his left foot.
While previously Newcastle were reliant on Trippier's creativity from right-back (with 10 top-flight assists in 2023-24), meaning the left-back was less pivotal in attack, that has flipped to an extent this season. Hall has contributed four Premier League assists and averages 1.8 open-play crosses per 90 (the fourth-highest of any Newcastle player).
Across 2024-25, Trippier has been less prominent during attacking phases and, even with the right-footed Livramento, more crosses are coming from the left-back than the right-back. Livramento's overlapping run and floated ball for Murphy for Isak's Wembley winner is a prime example (below).
'He's hung up a couple of crosses off his left foot — one for Joe Willock against Brighton (first image below) and one at the start of the Brentford game which Alex nearly scored from (second image),' Howe said last week. 'It shows his left foot is very strong.'
That weak-foot ability has also benefited Livramento defensively. He has shackled Jarrod Bowen, Bryan Mbeumo and Mohamed Salah — three of the Premier League's most potent right-sided forwards — to the point of anonymity.
With Salah, Livramento dealt with the left-footed winger coming inside by tackling him with his right foot (below).
Then he managed to snuff out right-footed crosses when forcing Salah to attempt to go to the byline (below).
Bowen (first image below) and Mbeumo (second image) were nullified in a similar manner.
'He can adapt so well to left-back due to his impressive stamina, speed and agility,' Demetriou says. 'A right-footer playing at left-back is at a disadvantage because it is a new area of the pitch and, naturally, you are inclined to use your right foot.
'Imagine a doubles player in tennis who usually plays on the left, suddenly is asked to play on the right — it's like a mirror image and it can take some adaptation because your reflexes are tuned to the other side.
'Tino compensates for the change in position without looking out of place because he is physically superior to most opponents, meaning his explosive pace and stamina allow him an extra split-second to change direction and get into position and the correct body shape.'
If Livramento's proficiency at left-back has proven a welcome bonus, then his athleticism, technical ability and character have matched the recruitment department's sky-high predictions.
Livramento was tracked from his Chelsea Under-18 days by Andy Howe, Newcastle's assistant head of recruitment. Last year, the head coach publicly credited his nephew with identifying Livramento — and it was Andy Howe who pushed for Newcastle to devote such a fee on him, having failed to take the defender to Bournemouth in 2021.
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Liverpool and Arsenal were among Livramento's long-term admirers, but the suggestion was they held doubts over how the full-back would recover following 392 days out with an ACL injury. Newcastle's comprehensive research reassured them that, physically, there would be no after-effects, while his profile was exactly what they required.
Heading into 2023-24, Trippier remained a key player, but a succession plan was needed. Livramento's pace, height, running strength, technical ability and attacking outlook made him ideal.
Crucially, Livramento also bought into the blueprint, recognising he could both learn from and push Trippier, then displace him. That elite mindset and the exceptional character references Newcastle received, convinced them they could not pass up the opportunity to acquire Livramento.
'He's very grounded and he doesn't get distracted by the limelight,' says Demetriou. 'His special peer group is also important. Alongside Musiala, he's close with Mika Biereth (at Monaco) and CJ Egan-Riley (at Burnley). They push one another to reach higher levels.
'Tino has surrounded himself with individuals with a strong mentality, who want to be winners and reach the top of their game. They all drive each other and none rest on what they have achieved so far.'
Newcastle definitely feel that there is so much more to come from Livramento. His defensive understanding has exceeded initial expectations, as has his proficiency at left-back.
But they recognise that as a 22-year-old who is still developing and looking to establish himself ahead of Trippier, it will take time for his self-belief to grow. Once it does, although left-back is where Livramento is currently thriving, Newcastle are adamant that they have actually secured England's long-term answer at right-back.