Monday evening, Athletics reported that Newcastle United were in talks with Southampton over a move for Tino Livramento.
The 20-year-old right-back is highly rated but missed almost all of last season after suffering an ACL tear in April 2022.
It is not set to be an easy transaction as Chelsea, his former club, owed a large sell-on fee in any deal – meaning Southampton require a large sum to secure a significant profit. Brighton & Hove Albion also retain an interest.
These are the ins and outs of the potential move.
So what is the context here?
Livramento joined Southampton from Chelsea ahead of the 2021-22 season. Aged 19, he had never made a senior appearance for Chelsea despite winning the club’s academy player of the year award earlier that summer, seeing his progression to the first team blocked by Reece James and Cesar Azpilicueta.
Premier League clubs Arsenal, Manchester City, Aston Villa, Liverpool, Everton and Brighton had all shown interest with offers, while he also attracted the attention of Germany’s RB Leipzig and Monaco of France’s Ligue 1.
Chelsea inserted buyback and resale clauses into the deal that took Livramento to the south coast – more on those later.
Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhuttl immediately inserted the youngster into his starting XI, displacing Kyle Walker-Peters, with the now England international forced to switch sides to play at left-back.
Livramento stood out and was named man of the match against Manchester United in just his second senior game. As an attacking right back, he likes to use his dribbling ability and physicality to advance the ball up the pitch before getting to the touchline and crossing.
He made 25 Premier League starts in that debut season, scoring once and providing two assists. But his campaign ended in April when he tore his left ACL in a harmless clash with Brighton midfielder Enock Mwepu. It was not until May 21 this year that he returned to Southampton – 392 days after his last appearance for the club, also away to Brighton.
Southampton’s relegation means interest in their players is now high – including midfielders James Ward-Prowse and Romeo Lavia – but they are charging a premium for them as they look to return to the Premier League at the first attempt.
Livramento is still getting back up to speed after more than a year out with the initial ACL injury and subsequent hamstring issues further delaying his comeback. Still only 20, the focus had been on getting the 25-cap England defender back into regular first-team action after being appreciative of the work Southampton’s medical staff have done in getting him back on the pitch.
Is right-back a priority position for Newcastle?
Not particularly. They have been in the market for a starting-quality left-back, but appeared to have focused their long-term succession planning on the right-back by signing 21-year-old Harrison Ashby from West Ham United in January.
However, the club have been opportunistic in recent windows – such as taking advantage of Everton’s financial problems to sign long-term target Anthony Gordon in the same month, a move that had originally been circulated this summer.
With Champions League football secured for next season, there is a realization that Kieran Trippier, who turns 33 in September, cannot play every game in the Premier League and Europe. Javier Manquillo is not part of manager Eddie Howe’s long-term plans, Emil Krafth is recovering from his own ACL injury sustained last August and Ashby played just six minutes of Premier League football more than a year ago, so it makes sense to bring in additional reinforcements. – if it was the right player.
Sporting director Dan Ashworth had been keen to sign Livramento while in the same job at Brighton – who are interested in the player again now.
Livramento’s ceiling is seen as extremely high — a player who can both contribute to his new club immediately and still develop in the future. The stumbling block, however, is the fee…
Okay, so how does this sales fee work?
It is understood that Chelsea’s resale clause relates to any profit made by Southampton from selling Livramento. They paid £4m for him – effectively making that amount exempt from the clause. Chelsea’s profit share then exists on a sliding scale – the higher the total price, the larger part of it they receive. Similarly, Southampton get a smaller percentage if they agree a larger fee.
For example, if the agreed package were to be £30m ($38.2m), Southampton would keep around 60 per cent of that (about £18m) – but if it rose to £50m, they would earn around 28 million pounds (in the region of 56 million pounds). percentage).
What fees have been discussed so far?
Southampton are looking to earn at least £25million-£30million from any deal, valuing the total package at close to £50m. It is understood that when Newcastle inquired about Livramento’s availability, that was the amount they were quoted, with Southampton aware of his pre-injury form.
Newcastle are not willing to spend that much on a non-priority position, especially given the €70m. However, they made a counter offer of around £23m – just under half of Southampton’s asking price. The Championship club would receive around £15m if they accepted that bid.
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It is understood that the clubs are still some way from a deal, although there is optimism that a deal can be reached. Newcastle are considering improving their offer, although they will not exceed a total outlay of £30m.
What about Chelsea’s buyback?
Chelsea remain admirers of their former youth player and it is understood that their buy-back clause will kick in for the first time this summer. That figure is believed to be around £50m – but due to the sell-out clause, they would only end up having to pay around £35-38m to get Livramento back.
Are Newcastle interested in other Southampton players?
Livramento is perhaps a more unexpected Newcastle target among their squad, although he had been watched at St Mary’s by scouts following his comeback at the end of last season.
Newcastle have also studied Walker-Peters, who would help meet their home-grown quota and can play in either full-back position, making him an attractive proposition for Premier League clubs in next season’s European competitions.
Walker-Peters, 26, is not as prolific a striker as Livramento, but is extremely solid defensively, following the mold of Newcastle’s 31-year-old current first-choice left-back Dan Burn, who has played much of his career at centre-back. defender.
Although Newcastle are still in the market for another midfielder – preferably a No.6 – Ward-Prowse and Lavia are not prime targets, especially given their likely cost. Lavia is also of interest to Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool.
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Tino Livramento has been in demand for years – he was destined for the top from an early age
(Top photo: Matt Watson/Southampton FC via Getty Images)