Manchester City cult hero Micah Richards has admitted that he’s feeling “a little bit sorry” for one of the club’s players right now.
The Citizens have enjoyed a largely fruitful transfer window, with a number of top players joining and also plenty of departures.
Over the past few months, the likes of Gianluigi Donnarumma, Tijjani Reijnders, Rayan Cherki and Rayan Ait-Nouri have joined Manchester City.
Meanwhile, the likes of Kevin De Bruyne, Ederson, Kyle Walker and Ilkay Gundogan have left in what has effectively been a changing of the guard.
However, Micah Richards says he feels for one of the players who recently joined City.
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James Trafford in action during Manchester City v Tottenham Hotspur.
Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images
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Micah Richards feels sorry for James Trafford
Man City have had a very eventful transfer window on the goalkeeping front, with three new arrivals and one very big departure.
Marcus Bettinelli and James Trafford joined earlier in the summer, while Ederson has gone to Fenerbahce.
However, City then made the surprising decision to sign Gianluigi Donnarumma after Paris Saint-Germain froze him out.
Richards, speaking on The Rest is Football, admitted that Donnarumma is a “massive signing” but also said he feels sorry for Trafford.
“I was assessing the Donnarumma to Manchester City [move], you know, with Trafford basically just going there,” said Richards.
“I didn’t think that was going to happen. I thought it was just more rumours. I didn’t think he was a ‘Pep style goalkeeper’ with his feet.
“But in terms of shot-stopping, that is a massive signing.
“I feel a little bit sorry for James Trafford because obviously Donnarumma has come in as number one.”
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Manchester City’s plans for James Trafford this season
James Trafford has fared well in two of the three games he has played for City.
Crucially, he bounced back from his error against Tottenham Hotspur to put in a great display against Brighton – he wasn’t at fault for either goal.
After Trafford’s poor display at Spurs led to links with Besiktas, Fabrizio Romano stressed that Trafford is firmly in Man City’s plans this season.
At the same time, the £31million man is just 22 years of age and he doesn’t have huge amounts of experience at the top level.
The pressure on him to deliver week in, week out for City may be too much at this moment in time.
Prior to City signing Donnarumma, Chris Sutton claimed that the Trafford situation worried him.
With that in mind, the opportunity to sign Donnarumma was not one that City could pass up.