Leeds United have completed the signing of James Trafford from Manchester City for £40 million.
Another quality pick-up in the market for Leeds
Harry Wilson made his Leeds debut in a friendly against Wrexham (Photo by Chris Arjoon/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
The England international is a big coup for The Whites, who have already completed the signing of highly rated Bosnian centre-half Tarik Muharemović from Sassuolo.
They also picked up another big coup as Harry Wilson joined on a free transfer from Fulham, following a sensational season where he scored ten goals and assisted eight for the Cottagers.
Trafford's path to Elland Road
However, Trafford is a particularly big coup, with no certain first-choice keeper last season, as both Lucas Perri and Karl Darlow played at least 15 Premier League matches. Trafford will undoubtedly come in as the number one keeper, and will have a chance to show his quality once more.
The 23-year-old made a name for himself with some outstanding performances at Burnley, including keeping 12 consecutive clean sheets in the Championship during the 2024/25 season, as he helped them bounce back from relegation to promotion into the Premier League.
Trafford has also stood out for the England youth side, most notably at the U21 European Championships in 2023, keeping a clean sheet in all six games, including saving a last-minute penalty from Abel Ruiz as the Young Lions beat Spain 1-0 for the first time since 1984.
NFL legend and part-owner of Burnley, JJ Watt, even made a bet that if Trafford did not concede for the rest of the season, he would retire and play for the Cincinnati Bengals.
However, Trafford would launch into new heights in the summer of 2025, heading back to Manchester City, where he spent much of his youth career, for a British goalkeeper record fee of £27 million.
However, his time at the 10-time Champions of England was thrown into doubt after City signed PSG’s Champions League-winning goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma for £26 million on September 2nd.
Trafford had started the opening three Premier League matches, but would not make an appearance until the final day of the season at home to Aston Villa, as Pep Guardiola rotated his side in his farewell game.
The 23-year-old from Greysouthen, Cumbria still had a large impact across the season, playing every domestic cup game as City won both the Carabao Cup and the FA Cup.
The move to Leeds, though, gives him a chance to not only go and establish himself as a number one goalkeeper, but also put himself in a position to fight for the role as England number one, with a home European Championships to come in 2028.
What does Trafford bring to Leeds?
Trafford will bring some composure within the backline; he completed 849 passes during the 2023/24 season, when he was last a number one keeper in the Premier League for a full season, while Perri managed just 299, and Darlow 492.
Leeds also conceded the 6th highest xG last season with 55.7; Perri prevented - 2.18, while Darlow only managed to prevent -1.50. Trafford has excelled in this stat previously, especially during that Championship season in 2024/25, preventing an xG of 12.85 as Scott Parker’s side conceded just 16 goals.
