Taking Trip to Burnley so crucial

KIERAN TRIPPIER has revealed the best decision of his life – quitting Manchester City for Burnley.

That was six years ago and it gave him a first-team platform which led to a move to Tottenham and now a place in England’s World Cup squad.

The right-back, 27, said: “At City, I knew I was never going to get an opportunity. I knew I needed to go out and get games and I went to Barnsley on loan first.

“I think it was the best decision of my life to sign for Burnley on a permanent basis.

“I was playing week in, week out in the Championship getting experience at a young age and playing against men.

“I’ve just built on that really. My dream was always to play in the Premier League and I did it with Burnley and then signed for Spurs.

“At City, there was the takeover of the club and that was a big factor. They were buying lots of players and there were lots of them in front of me.

“In my position at the time they had Micah Richards and Pablo Zabaleta – fantastic players.”

City’s spending power, ironically, helped Trippier this season when they signed Kyle Walker from Tottenham.

“It’s been an important season for me,” said Trippier. “Walks left for City and I’ve had a lot if competition with him, both at Tottenham and with England. Then Serge Aurier came in at Spurs.

“So I knew I had another battle on my hands. But I kept working hard on the training field and knew with the World Cup coming up I needed to play as many games as I could to get selected.

“To be here, to say I’ve been playing for England for a year, is an amazing feeling. I’m honoured. Obviously, Walks has played in the back three for England recently and I played at full-back, so we were both in the team.”