James Trafford has returned “home” to Manchester City from Burnley in a £27m deal after two seasons at Turf Moor. The goalkeeper has signed a five-year deal, with the option of a sixth, at the Etihad Stadium where he will battle with Ederson and Stefan Ortega to be first choice.
It was anticipated that Trafford would move to Newcastle, who have been tracking him over the past 12 months. City, however, used their matching rights clause, inserted when the goalkeeper left the club in 2023, to secure his services. The fee has been confirmed as a club-record sale by the Clarets.
“Rejoining City is such a special and proud moment both for me and my family,” Trafford said. “I always dreamed that one day I would be able to come back to Manchester City. This is the place I call home – it’s a truly special football club with fantastic people who make it such a unique place to work and play.
“I am also very excited and honoured to have been given the opportunity to work under Pep [Guardiola] and with such a world-class group of players. I am still very young and hungry to keep learning and improving – and I know there is no better environment than Manchester City to help make me become the best goalkeeper I can be.”
The 22-year-old Cumbrian joined City aged 12 from Carlisle and went on to have eight years in Manchester before joining Burnley in 2023 for £14m. Prior to moving to Turf Moor, Trafford impressed during loan spells at Accrington and Bolton but never made a first-team appearance for City, although he did work with the first-team goalkeepers.
“When he [Ederson] first joined, he was extremely talented,” Trafford said. “He is one of a kind with the ball at his feet. He was someone that I looked up to a lot when I first trained with him when I was 17. I tried to take small bits of his game and try to put them into my game and improve.”
Vincent Kompany made Trafford his first choice at Burnley, giving him a first taste of Premier League football. But in a struggling side he was dropped eventually in favour of Arijanet Muric as Burnley went down. Trafford recovered his form and confidence last season, helping the Clarets to reach the top flight, conceding 16 goals in 45 appearances, with 29 clean sheets.
Trafford was an integral member of the England Under-21 squad that won the European Championship in 2023, saving a penalty in the final, and has been named in numerous senior squads but is yet to make his full international debut.
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Guardiola has four senior goalkeepers at his disposal, having also signed Marcus Bettinelli this summer. Ederson has been the subject of interest from Galatasaray and numerous enquires have been made in relation to Ortega but nothing concrete has emerged.
