“I always dreamed that one day I would be able to come back to Manchester City,” Trafford said in July after signing a five-year deal. “This is the place I call home.”
Similar to how he may be feeling now, there was confusion around Trafford’s fee with City sources saying it was worth £27m plus add-ons.
However, Burnley sources put the figure at £31m plus add-ons and a sell-on clause, meaning it was a new record fee for a British goalkeeper.
If you believe the Clarets, Trafford may have surpassed Jordan Pickford’s £30m figure from 2017 when he moved from Sunderland to Everton, but he will find it difficult to dislodge his compatriot from the number one slot for England.
He was immense for Burnley last season, keeping 29 clean sheets across 45 Championship games, and he was rewarded by being named Championship Player of the Year at the PFA awards in August.
He kept an impressive clean sheet on his City debut in the 4-0 victory at Wolves in their Premier League opener and though he made a mistake in the defeat by Tottenham, he was the one of the few players to come out of the loss to Brighton with any credit.
With World Cup qualifiers looming, he may have had one eye on breaking into Thomas Tuchel’s England first team, but it all changed with the signing of giant goalkeeper Donnarumma.
Upon his arrival, club insiders said Trafford has age on his side and has an “amazing” future at the club, but he was immediately consigned to the bench and City are unbeaten in three games with the Italian in goal.
The involvement in four competitions means Trafford should see plenty of first-team opportunities during the campaign, with Guardiola confirming he will start in Wednesday’s EFL Cup third-round tie at Huddersfield.
Asked how Trafford has responded, Guardiola said: “Unbelievable. He’s training better than ever, he’s a fantastic keeper.
“And with me, the second keepers always play a lot of games so there will not be an exception. [He is] so safe, so confident and so young, he will learn with Gigi and the future, we’ll see what happens.”
