Kieran Trippier is popular at Atletico Madrid but Diego Simeone will allow Newcastle United move

Diego Simeone will sanction the January departure of Kieran Trippier to Newcastle, if Atletico Madrid receive £15million for the England international and the Spanish club can line up a replacement.

Simeone values Trippier highly and Atletico have stumbled both last season and this season when he has been unavailable.

But the club realise that if the England defender does not return to his home country next month he will be going back next summer and taking Newcastle's money now represents a far better deal.

Trippier has more than proved his worth since he joined from Tottenham in 2019. Last year when he was ruled out by an FA ban for breaking rules on betting Atletico had their biggest mid-season wobble.

This season he has been sidelined by a dislocated shoulder and the team's form has slipped again. Atletico have only won two of their last five league games since Trippier's injury.

This bolsters Simeone's case for demanding a ready-made replacement to help close the 13-point gap with runaway leaders Real Madrid. It's also true that Atletico don't have much in the way of replacements for Trippier.

Marcos Llorente and Sime Vrsaljko have deputised but Llorente is needed further forward and Vrsaljko has not wholly convinced his manager.

But if Atletico's director of football Andrea Berta can bring in a new right back then Simone is ready to let Trippier leave six months ahead of the end of his contract.

Trippier had made his mind up about his future at the end of last season when he became the first Englishman to win a major league title overseas since David Beckham in 2007.

He was instrumental in Simeone's side getting over the line ahead of Real Madrid on the last day of the season and his attention had already turned towards moving back to an English club.

His family have made sacrifices settling abroad with him and having got his career back on track, with silverware to boot, he was ready and prepared to bring them home.

Atletico set his price too high in the summer however, and Manchester United ended up pulling out of a possible £21m deal.

Now the expectations have been lowered, although the fact that Newcastle and their newly acquired wealth are now the buying club could still make for protracted negotiations.

'I know what I have come here to do and I've done it,' Trippier told Sportsmail two months ago. 'I would love to play in the Premier League again.'

He joked about the possibility of playing for former boss Sean Dyche, who he remains in regular contact with. Dyche followed Eddie Howe at Burnley and it was the latter who signed him permanently in 2012 after having him on loan from Manchester City the previous season.

Trippier has already begun making plans to take his coaching badges and that will be easier to do if he is playing out his final seasons in England.

He will leave behind a cult following in the Spanish capital if the deal can be closed.

During the raucous celebrations for what was only Atletico's 11th league title last season, one fan gave him an England flag with his face on it above the words 'By order of the Trippier Blinders' and also including a picture of him in Peaky Blinders-style cap – and he has an unofficial fan club who are also fans of the British TV drama.

They have taken to the 31-year-old because of his performances on the pitch and his willingness to interact with them off it.

He's integrated in Spain and his budding goalkeeper son even trains at the club. But his hero is Jordan Pickford so he's unlikely to be disappointed to be going back to England either.

Trippier is also desperate to play next year's World Cup and he knows being established in a Premier League team, for all that England manager Gareth Southgate values the experience he has gained abroad, will be a plus.

Trippier's decision it seems has already been made.

If Atletico find their replacement and Newcastle meet their demands then Trippier will have arrived, succeeded and departed all inside 18 months.