Eddie Howe is looking for an upgrade at goalkeeper for the 2025/26 Premier League - and a swap deal could offer a solution.
One of the positions Newcastle United must upgrade if they’re to genuinely challenge for the Premier League is goalkeeper, after Nick Pope divided Magpies fans last season with some crucial game-winning performances especially in the League Cup combined with several high-profile errors.
While his shot-stopping is generally solid, Pope’s distribution lags well behind Newcastle’s big six rival keepers like David Raya, Ederson or Alisson and which undermines Eddie Howe’s style of play and turning 34 next season, he hasn’t played a minute for England in almost three years.
Howe wants James Trafford after a stellar season where the 22-year-old won the Championship Golden Glove, but Burnley’s demands of £40 million for their star are proving a major sticking point with the Clarets determined to make a better fist of it in the Premier League than the 2023/24 season.
However, a swap plus cash deal could be just the thing to break the deadlock as Newcastle have the players to solve two Burnley headaches. Nick Pope and Joe Willock could be the perfect replacements for Trafford and Josh Brownhill, the midfield metronome that also looks set to leave Turf Moor this summer.
Trafford can take Newcastle to the next level
Trafford and Pope have both worn the number 1 for Burnley, but that’s about where the similarities start and end as players.
Standing almost two metres tall, Pope excels at the fundamentals of goalkeeping and if he’d been born around a decade earlier and broken through in the early 2000s when David Seaman retired, he probably would’ve been England’s undisputed first choice between the sticks up until at least the emergence of Joe Hart.
However, the revolution of the keeper position (that ironically cut short Hart’s career) in the 2010s has meant Newcastle is surely the highest Pope can rise given his limitations with the ball at his feet.
His pass accuracy last season was a lowly 65%, about as accurate as Allied bomber command in the 1940s by today’s standards when the best goalkeepers get well above 80%, while Trafford began his career as a midfielder and it shows in his distribution.
While three inches shorter than Pope, Trafford’s shot-stopping (particularly his reflex saves) is also elite and he didn’t concede a single goal as the starter in England’s victorious 2023 U21 Euros campaign.
The Manchester City academy product joined Burnley for £15m in 2023 after impressing at Lancashire rivals Bolton, and though he spent most of that season picking the ball out of his net as the fifth-youngest goalkeeper to start matchday 1 in Premier League history, he’s bounced back well in the Championship and should be much better prepared for 2025/26.
Trafford would be the perfect fit for Newcastle and Howe could pull off a piece of wheeling and dealing that Harry Redknapp would be proud of by signing him for as little as a quarter of his transfer fee if he sends two out-of-favour players across the Pennines to Burnley.
Willock and Pope solve Burnley headaches
So if I’ve just spent 300 words explaining why Howe should ditch Pope for Trafford, why would Burnley welcome the 33-year-old?
Well the demands on goalkeepers for a Champions League team chasing the Premier League title are very different from those just looking to keep their team in the division, and Pope’s ability to produce masterclasses between the sticks would be invaluable to a Burnley side who will likely spend a lot of next season on the defensive.
Despite finishing ten points ahead of Sheffield United and 31 ahead of Coventry City, Burnley only outscored them by six and five goals last season, while they netted 35 fewer times than champions Leeds.
And his age is less of an issue for Burnley who would bite your arm off for a goalkeeper who could keep them in the top flight for even a few years. A long-term solution between the sticks is so far down the list of priorities and Pope could be good for up to four or five seasons.
The second-most expensive of the pre-Saudi era at St James’ Park, the 25-year-old has seen his gametime diminish drastically over four full seasons and his only 90-minute appearances in 2024/25 came against League 1 and 2 opposition in the form of Birmingham City and AFC Wimbledon.
But with Clarets stalwart Brownhill the subject of intense transfer speculation this summer after 211 games at the club - with West Ham particularly interested - Parker could also need to replace the heartbeat of his midfield and Willock would be a capable and younger candidate for that job.
So a rare three-man swap deal could suit all parties. Pope, Willock and £10-15m to sweeten the deal should persuade Burnley to part with their star goalkeeper while Newcastle could unload two unwanted players and secure a major discount on their top gloved target Trafford - a win for all involved.
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