In England, critics scoffed and pointed to a difficult final season with Tottenham.
In Spain, fans of Atleti who had been expecting the club to bring in the more familiar FC Barcelona right-back Nelson Semedo seemed largely nonplussed.
Yet it hasn’t taken Trippier long to win doubters over, and there is already a palpable excitement over the Colchoneros’ infectiously enthusiastic new full-back.
The positive signs were already evident in the pre-season. Both player and club have taken smart steps to ease the potentially tricky integration of the new signing.
From Atleti’s side, pairing Trippier up with Diego Simeone’s right-hand man Germán ‘Mono’ Burgos in early training sessions looks to have been a wise move.