Newcastle United still admire Burnley goalkeeper James Trafford
Burnley goalkeeper James Trafford
Burnley goalkeeper James Trafford(Image: Photo by James Gill - Danehouse/Getty Images)
Newcastle United's chances of landing Burnley stopper James Trafford look to have increased after the Premier League new boys pounced to sign a potential replacement between the sticks. The Clarets have confirmed the arrival of promising German goalkeeper, Max Weiss, from Karlsuher in a £4.3m deal.
Weiss arrives after featuring in all 34 matches for his current club in the 2. Bundesliga last term. Scott Parker has made him the latest Turf Moor signing as the former Newcastle midfielder plots how to keep Burnley in the top flight in the upcoming campaign.
“I’m really excited. It’s a really cool club and it feels amazing to be here,” Weiss told the club’s YouTube channel. “I talked with my manager, I talked with Kersten [goalkeeping coach Kersten Kuhl], we had a lot of talks. It was amazing contact and that was the start of how the move came about."
The door is now potentially open for Trafford to make his long-awaited move to a high-flying Premier League side after seeing a Newcastle switch fall through 12 months ago. Back then, the Magpies were hamstrung by Profit and Sustainability Rules, before Odysseas Vlachodimos joined from Nottingham Forest to all but end United's search for additional goalkeeping reinforcements.
This time around, Newcastle have funds at their disposal and have not changed their opinion of Trafford. If anything, the goalkeeper's stock has only skyrocketed after a historic season in the Championship.
Burnley, fresh from their promotion, have understandably increased their asking price for Trafford, who was available for just £20m this time last year. Now, it is understood a fee of around £35m is the minimum Newcastle will need to spend on the England international.
Discussing last summer's failed Newcastle move, Trafford recently told Ben Foster's 'Fozcast': "The club that I was close to going, it was a good fit for me. It was brilliant for me and I really believed in it.
“I wanted to move, not just because I didn’t want to play in the Championship, I had no shame playing in the Championship. I have no ego to think I’m better than the Championship. You only prove something by performing and showing people. You can say whatever you want but unless you perform.
"It was just when an opportunity and a situation you think suits you can happen, you should take it and you should try and go for it, so I wanted to move. It was close but it didn’t end up happening."
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