Manchester City Adds New Goalkeeper, James Trafford Returned With A Dowry Of 27 Million Pound

James Trafford returns to Manchester City (Instagram/@mancity).

JAKARTA - Manchester City has thickened the goalkeeper sector. They announced the recruitment of goalkeeper James Trafford from Burnley.

The deal is reportedly worth 27 million. Trafford has signed a five-year contract at the Etihad, with the option of a one-year extension.

Manchester City managed to beat Newcastle United who were interested in Trafford. There is a strong reason why the 22-year-old player is more interested in joining the Etihad.

Trafford is a former Manchester City player. The Citizens recruited the goalkeeper again just two years after releasing him to Burnley.

After releasing Trafford for 14 million pounds two years ago, Manchester City officials calculated that the deal to re-cruit the goalkeeper ended up only spending 13 million pounds.

Trafford made 78 appearances during his two years at Burnley, recording an outstanding 29 clean-sheets in their promotion campaign for the 2024/2025 season.

The young England National Team player will wear the number 1 uniform at Manchester City and become the sixth signing this summer.

"Rejoining Manchester City is a very special and proud moment for me and my family."

"I always dreamed that one day I could come back. This is a place I call homes - really special football clubs with fantastic people who make it a unique place to work and play," said Trafford.

Meanwhile, initially Manchester City wanted to release Ederson or Stefan Ortega before recruiting Trafford.

However, with Newcastle already moving close to Trafford last week, Manchester City felt they had no choice but to speed up their efforts to recruit the goalkeeper.

Ederson is expected to stay at the Etihad despite interest from Galatasaray. However, the Ortega reserve goalkeeper will be moved to leave Ederson and Trafford who will fight for the number 1 position in Pep Guardiola's team.