Five Potential Destinations for Man City’s Out-Of-Favour ‘Keeper James Trafford

Five Potential Destinations for Man City’s Out-Of-Favour ‘Keeper James Trafford

With James Trafford out of favour at Manchester City, here are five clubs the goalkeeper could join.

It’s hard not to feel for Trafford. The 23-year-old had an incredible 2024-25 with Burnley, earning himself a move back to his boyhood club, only for them to go and sign arguably the best goalkeeper in the world a few weeks later.

Competition is to be expected when you join Man City, a club that are competing on every front, but Trafford hasn’t played a single Premier League minute since Gianluigi Donnarumma signed.

So, it’s looking like Trafford with leave Man City in the not-so-distant-future in pursuit of more regular first-team action. Here are five clubs we believe would be a good fit.

This would probably be a dream scenario for Trafford. Goalkeeper has been a problem position for Chelsea since Thibaut Courtois left back in 2018, although Robert Sanchez hasn’t been as bad as people may think since the start of the season.

Trafford wouldn’t necessarily walk into the first team, but there would be opportunities for him to make his mark as Chelsea’s number one, especially with Filip Jorgensen not looking up to the challenge at all.

Of course, Chelsea have a history of signing ex-Man City academy graduates, so Trafford should fit right in with ex-teammates Cole Palmer, Liam Delap, and Romeo Lavia. It would likely depend on whether the club fancy the move rather than the player.

OK, signing a new goalkeeper is hardly a priority for Tottenham, but Vicario has had some moments this season. The Italian’s performances in the defeat to Aston Villa and the draw with Man United were hardly convincing.

Again, Trafford wouldn’t walk into the first team, and although he has a lower save success rate than Vicario (77.27%), the England international makes up for it with a better l

ong ball success rate (32.39%).

Signing Trafford would also help with Spurs’ home-grown quota. They currently only have seven ‘home-grown’ players when the Premier League’s minimum is eight, meaning they are unable to register the maximum 25 players.

Eddie Howe’s side looked set to sign Trafford before City swooped in to steal the goalkeeper from under their noses. That was pretty much the story of Newcastle’s summer window right before they got their act together close to the end.

Since then, Nick Pope has done little wrong, keeping a joint second highest five Premier League clean sheets, conceding a respectable 12 goals in his 11 games. But the fact that Newcastle didn’t move for another ‘keeper in the summer after Trafford, means they probably retain an interest.

It’s at the other end of the pitch that Newcastle have struggled so far this season, however, scoring just 11 goals so far this season, so they would likely be prioritising a move for a more creative midfielder than between the sticks.

OK, hear us out on this one. Yes, it would be a backwards step for Trafford but returning to an environment that he’s already familiar with could be a huge confidence boost for a player who will have been knocked back by his current situation.

A loan move would make the most sense if this were to happen, with Burnley looking like their best-case scenario will be fighting against relegation, while also giving Trafford a bit of a safety net and secure him a better move in the summer.

Burnley’s current ‘keeper Martin Dubravka hasn’t been bad, but Trafford would be a huge upgrade, especially considering the fact he only conceded 16 goals in his 45 league games for them last season.

It’s starting to feel like Emi Martinez’s heart isn’t in it for Aston Villa now. The Argentina international really pushed for a move away in the summer, with Man United reportedly making a loan offer, but it never materialised.

His performance in the 2-0 defeat to Arne Slot’s struggling Liverpool was an absolute nightmare. Martinez was responsible for both of the goals, although he did redeem himself in the subsequent games against Maccabi Tel Aviv and Bournemouth.

Villa’s financial problems, of their own doing, spending over 90% of their budget on player wages, would be a hinderance, but Trafford could be their ‘keeper for the next ten years, and they’d be hard pressed to find a better option.