Will Trafford be questioning decision to return to Man City?

Will the English goalkeeper now be reevaluating his decision after sealing a long-awaited summer return to Manchester City?

The 22-year-old started in the City academy before making his first-team debut at Burnley in 2023, where he featured in their relegation and was instrumental in their return to the top flight last year.

At the start of the campaign, Trafford was expected to take on Ederson for the top shirt at City. In fact, he may have been in the lead with his first three Premier League starts.

However, the script was ripped up on deadline when Pep Guardiola’s successor sold Ederson to Fenerbahce, and the appeal to bring in Gianluigi Donnarumma from Paris St-Germain for £26m proved to be ineffective.

Trafford had the chance to join Newcastle earlier this summer, but he chose to switch to City instead. Just two months after Turf Moor sold him, he may now have doubts about the future.

Former City keeper Shay Given praised James Trafford as a “brilliant goalkeeper” on BBC Radio 5 Live.

“Pep will have made the complete pitch that “you are coming in and the number one jersey is yours” during a World Cup year,” he said. You’ll be playing regular football, competing in the Premier League, and playing Champions League football, and you could even play for England in the World Cup in the summer.

The big man Donnarumma is parked up for the season after two weeks. I would be raging if it were me. Raging !

After agreeing to a five-year deal with Manchester City, Trafford said in July, “I always dreamed that I would be able to come back to Manchester City.” “This is where I call home,” I say.

There was misunderstanding about Trafford’s fee, with City sources reporting that it was worth £27 million plus add-ons, similar to how he may be right now.

However, according to sources from Burnley, the figure includes add-ons and a sell-on clause, making it a new record for a British goalkeeper.

If you think the Clarets, Trafford may have surpassed Jordan Pickford’s £30 million mark from 2017 when he left Sunderland for Everton, but he will struggle to remove his countryman from the top three for England.

He kept 29 clean sheets for Burnley last season and won the title of Championship Player of the Year at the PFA awards in August. He did it again.

He kept a remarkable clean sheet on his City debut against Wolves on Sunday, winning 4-1 in their Premier League opener, and despite making a mistake in the defeat by Tottenham, he was one of the few players to earn any credit after Brighton’s 4-0 victory.

He may have had an eye on joining Thomas Tuchel’s England first team with the arrival of World Cup qualifiers, but Donnarumma, the giant goalkeeper, made the transition.

With the Italian in goal, City are unbeaten in three games and Trafford has an “amazing” future, according to club insiders who said he had age on his side and had an “amazing” future at the club.

Guardiola has confirmed he will start for Wednesday’s EFL Cup third-round match against Huddersfield, giving the club plenty of first-team opportunities throughout the campaign.

Guardiola responded to Trafford with an “unbelievable” response. He’s a fantastic keeper and training is better than ever.

Newcastle’s Eddie Howe had long-standing ties to Trafford, and it is believed the player was “super excited” about joining the Magpies, but negotiations over a fee stalled.

When City sold Trafford to Burnley, they were given the option of having matching rights if another bid came in, which they activated once Newcastle and City agreed a fee. This was a sell-on clause in the contract.

Trafford made a wise decision by returning to City.

There are no guarantees that Nick Pope and his fellow Englishman, who has kept four clean sheets in five league games thus far, would have won if he had moved to St James’ Park.

After earning the Yashin award and placing ninth overall at the Ballon d’Or ceremony in France on Monday, Trafford faces a player from a different class who is officially the best goalkeeper in the world in Donnarumma.

Trafford hasn’t made his senior appearance for the Three Lions, and that task has grown even more challenging because Donnarumma has 76 caps for Italy and is currently the national team’s captain at the age of 26.

Donnarumma, who made his AC Milan debut at age 16, broke England’s hearts with his heroics in the penalty shootout at Wembley, broke the record for the youngster.

However, despite leading PSG to a treble of titles last season, including their first Champions League title, he was brutally replaced by Lille’s Lucas Chevalier in the place of his former manager Luis Enrique.

Guardiola saw a chance to sign a champion player who had already established himself as a world-class player, which reduced Trafford from serving as the team’s main man for a while and moving him to a supporting role.

On Wednesday night, Trafford travels to West Yorkshire, but he might be left wondering what might have happened if he had traveled there in the summer.