Bayern Munich's interest in Kieran Trippier felt like a compliment to the player.

The Newcastle United captain decided to stay at St. James' Park instead of moving to the Bavarian club.

While he admitted to being flattered by the links, Trippier is focused on ensuring Newcastle have a great rest of the season.

Speaking to reporters after beating Nottingham Forest 3-2 in the Premier League, Trippier said: "Transfer windows always bring speculation, and it's a compliment that other clubs are interested in our players. In every window, all sorts get thrown into the mix, but we're all together, we're all committed and we want to finish as high as we can this season.

"There's still a lot of points to play for and we're not going to give up on the top four. Of course, we know it's going to be difficult to close that gap, but in football you never know - there's going to be a lot of twists and turns from now to the end of the season.

"We go into every game with a mentality to win, and it's going to be hard to finish in the top four because of the teams who are up there, but we've still got to play most of them and you never say never."