James Trafford Paying the Price for Rejecting Newcastle for Manchester City

James Trafford has had a tough time of it this season as he has been left wasting away on Manchester City’s bench.

Trafford has struggled for game time at City since making his then-record transfer for a goalkeeper in the UK fee of close to £31million. It was a move which looked good for the stopper on paper with Ederson ready to leave for Fenerbahce. However it has turned into a bit of a nightmare for the England cap.

Trafford might have expected more minutes on the pitch since his switch from Burnley a few short months ago but things have not transpired quite the way the 23-year-old would have liked.

Since his Turf Moor departure, Trafford has only made six appearances for the club in all competitions with a grand total of 540 minutes spent on the field of play. Compare that to his time with the Clarets where he made 73 appearances across just two years of action.

The goalie will likely cast his mind back to the sliding doors moment that was his decision to move on from Scott Parker’s club to join up at the Etihad. But it will not be because he could have stayed with Burnley. No, Trafford may be kicking himself because he had the opportunity at the time to join a different club who had been after him for some time.

Why James Trafford is not playing at Manchester City

Newcastle United were in need of a new ‘keeper to compete regularly with Nick Pope and they had Trafford in their sights. And yet, when City came calling he opted to make that move as opposed to heading Tyneside to St James’ Park to work with Eddie Howe. We think it may be possible he regrets his decision.

It comes amid reports linking the player with a move out of Manchester this week after claims in the media that he wants out of his deal and is looking, actively, for a loan deal elsewhere.

Nick Pope is out of form for the Magpies which might open the door to the club revisiting Trafford. Pope is also injured and ruled out for six matches, but they have loan star Aaron Ramsdale ready to come to the fore. And that could prevent them from moving for their one-time target again.

So one has to think Trafford is now paying the price for refusing a move to Newcastle in favour of the megabucks of City and the chance to win titles.

We at FootballBlog have looked at some of the reasons he has not featured much under Pep Guardiola as we consider other destinations he may consider now that he’s officially looking for a new gig…

Gigio Donnarumma arrives at Man City

Trafford would hardly have been expecting another big money goalkeeper to arrive at the club a wee while after he made his official entrance. But that’s exactly what happened when Gigio Donnarumma rocked up for around £20m after PSG made it clear they would be offloading their man.

Guardiola has always been a big fan of the 26-year-old and he is a European champion with his nation, Italy, as well as a Champions League winner with PSG.

Donnarumma’s experience was absolutely too big to pass up for the title chasing City and when he became available it was a no-brainer. However it signaled disappointment for Trafford who would have known his game time would have been limited when his new teammate arrived.

The Italian has played 14 times since he was handed the gloves and kept six clean sheets in that period. Trafford may well be the cup goalie for now but Donnarumma is the trusted stopper and new No.1.

Trafford’s nightmare game vs Tottenham

Given the chance to start two Premier League games early in the season, Trafford did not repay Guardiola for his trust with anything like the performances he can produce.

His first league outing came against Wolves in what was a 4-0 drubbing for City. A clean sheet was a nice bonus for the player, but that was the last time he walked off the pitch in an EPL match with a smile on his face. The next match came against Tottenham in a 2-0 home defeat to the North Londoners.

In that fixture, Trafford proved that he was not the best with the ball at his feet as his error gifted Spurs their second goal that day. He should arguably also have been sent off after going a goal down after he raced out to meet Mohammed Kudus. He caught the winger on the chest with a trailing knee and handled the ball outside his own box.

As far as nightmare starts go, this one was a doozy. And he followed it up by playing in another defeat, 2-1, to Brighton the following week.

What Guardiola has said about James Trafford

City’s manager has been open and honest with the player regarding his chances of playing more often for the club this term.

Before starting for his side and playing the full 90 in the Carabao Cup against Swansea, Trafford’s efforts were applauded by the coach. Although, again, Pep hinted that he would have to bide his time.

“The keeper is a special situation because the keeper plays, normally one, and the second one doesn’t. All I can say is we are delighted with his behaviour in training,” Guardiola said at the time.

“One of the reasons why we want to go through in this competition is because they all have to be ready in case we need in the Premier League and the Champions League.”

Possible James Trafford transfer options

Bournemouth need a strong goalkeeper to compete with Djordje Petrovic and Trafford would fit in well there. Will Dennis has played only once for the club in his career and was most recently at Kilmarnock on loan in Scotland’s Premiership. The Cherries could use some experience to rival for the gloves and a loan for City’s man might work out.

Turkish clubs have shown interest in the recent past with Besiktas keen on Trafford earlier this summer if reports are to be believed. If a squad around Europe would be willing to take a chance in attempting to loan the 23-year-old, Trafford would be mad not to consider every option available to him.

Trafford’s England chances if he stays at Man City

We have mentioned Newcastle United as a possible destination for Trafford but he would be up against two players for the limelight who would also be looking to beat him to an England call-up.

Everyone knows the World Cup is coming next year and City’s second in command between the sticks will absolutely want to be there with his country. But so will Pope and Ramsdale. So it is possible that could prevent him making that move to avoid being third in the pecking order.

But the reality of the situation is that he will have to go somewhere else to play football if he won’t get the playing time he needs at City to convince Thomas Tuchel to take him to the USA, Mexico and Canada with the squad.

The England World Cup squad has obviously not been chosen yet but one might expect Jordan Pickford will be the first on the plane from a goalkeeping perspective. He plays week in, week out for Everton. Dean Henderson of Crystal Palace is another shoo-in considering he’s a regular with the overperforming Crystal Palace.

Other options include Sam Johnstone of Wolves and perhaps Jack Butland at Rangers in what would be a seriously left-field shout. At least the Ibrox stopper is playing regularly.

Trafford must improve his numbers if he is to stand a chance. Even a slim one.