‘Gets caught defensively’ - Newcastle United ace slammed as ‘not good enough’ for England

Signed in August 2023 from Southampton for £35million, eyebrows were initially raised at the fee. The fears were amplified as Livramento - named Chelsea’s academy Player of the Year in 2021 - had recently returned from an ACL injury.

However, any doubts about his potential were quickly put to bed with stellar performances against Manchester City and Manchester United. Livramento has gone on to become an integral part of Eddie Howe’s squad and, at 22, the best is yet to come.

Most of his football this season has come at right-back but he is currently deputising on the opposite flank. A needs-must situation arose after Lewis Hall was ruled out for the rest of the campaign with a foot injury.

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A run of eye-catching performances - including pocketing Mohamed Salah in the Carabao Cup final - have led to some questioning whether left-back is his best position. Livramento terrorised Man United on Sunday, skinning Diogo Dalot in the build-up to Newcastle’s goal shortly after half-time.

He is forging a fruitful partnership with Harvey Barnes on the left flank and, with Thomas Tuchel watching on, more England opportunities could be around the corner. The youngster has one Three Lions cap to his name, awarded under interim boss Lee Carsley at the back end of last year.

But ex-Watford striker Deeney does not think Livramento has the tools to answer England’s left-back problems. Speaking on talkSPORT, the 36-year-old bizarrely questioned his defensive capabilities.

“I’m not sure on Livramento just yet,” Deeney said. “It’s hard to talk when people are getting called up to the national team but I just think ‘What’s he great at?’ Again, you’re talking about balance (in the England team).

“Is he an attacking wing-back? We have that in Trent (Alexander-Arnold). Is he better defensively than the others? I’d argue not. Maybe it’s because of all the injuries that he’s getting, I just don’t see it at the moment.

“I’ve been to a few of the Newcastle games, he gets caught defensively at the back post for watching and waiting, not anticipating. When it’s all said and done, I think full-back is going to become a problem for England as well as the No.9 position.”

Eddie Howe angered by Tino Livramento transfer interest

While he may not be good enough for Deeney, Manchester City certainly rate the Toon defender. Howe was angered earlier this year when reports linked Livramento with a move to Pep Guardiola’s side.

"It goes without saying, it's frustrating for us that we're consistently talking about players rumoured to be leaving,” he told reporters. "We want to go the other way and strengthen our group. We want to make the team stronger for the future rather than lose our best players."

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