Liverpool, Chelsea and Newcastle line up for Trafford as Donnarumma blocks the Etihad path
James Trafford's Manchester City season has produced a Carabao Cup winner's medal, an England debut and almost no Premier League football. With the goalkeeper now open to a summer exit in search of regular minutes, five Premier League clubs have already moved on the situation: Liverpool, Chelsea, Tottenham, Newcastle and Aston Villa.
A £31m signing pushed to the bench
City paid Burnley £31m last summer to trigger the buy-back clause they had inserted into the 2023 sale, matching a Newcastle bid in the process. The fee made Trafford the most expensive British goalkeeper in football. He started the campaign as Pep Guardiola's first-choice keeper, before the deadline-day arrival of Gianluigi Donnarumma from Paris Saint-Germain reset the depth chart.
Donnarumma, fresh from a Champions League win with PSG, cost roughly £26m and was instantly installed as Premier League and Champions League No 1, with Ederson departing for Fenerbahce to make room. Trafford's 2025-26 sheet now reads three Premier League starts, three EFL Cup starts, one FA Cup start and one Champions League outing.
Wembley, two goals and an England debut
The cup competitions have given Trafford a stage. He started City's run to the EFL Cup final and was in goal at Wembley on March 22 as Nico O'Reilly's second-half double sealed a 2-0 win over Arsenal, City's ninth League Cup title. Five days later he made his senior England debut against Uruguay at Wembley in a friendly, the natural reward for a season of cup keeping at the highest level.
Five suitors, one obvious sticking point
Liverpool and Chelsea are reported to be leading the chase ahead of an expected summer auction. Tottenham, Aston Villa and Newcastle, who tried to sign Trafford last year before City exercised the matching clause, complete the field. Aston Villa's interest is partly tied to the future of Emiliano Martinez, with the World Cup-winning Argentine potentially leaving this summer.
The sticking point is City's stance. Guardiola has publicly insisted the 23-year-old will become England's No 1 in time, framing the Donnarumma situation as a temporary squeeze rather than a hierarchy change. That position is harder to hold if Trafford himself pushes for the move, and the goalkeeper has not hidden his desire to play.
A summer that suits everyone except City
For Liverpool, who have wrestled with goalkeeping uncertainty this season, Trafford is the long-term replacement at peak market timing. For Chelsea, he fits the profile of high-ceiling young Englishmen the club has built the squad around. Newcastle simply revisit unfinished business from twelve months ago.
The hardest sell, on current evidence, is City keeping a £31m signing in cup-only minutes for another full year while suitors stack up. Whether they can write him back into the first team is the open question, and Donnarumma's form will largely answer it.
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