Newcastle United desperately need to find an answer to their goalkeeper problem this summer.
Nick Pope has been an excellent signing overall since his £10 million arrival from Burnley, but mistakes have started to creep into his game far more frequently than is acceptable at this level.
Combined with the fact that his kicking suggests he wears steel-toe-capped boots for games, we’re missing a reliable shot stopper with solid distribution who doesn’t wet himself when the ball is played back to him.
Aaron Ramsdale has done okay for Newcastle when called upon, but not enough to convince Eddie Howe to make his loan move from Southampton permanent.
James Trafford has been high on Newcastle’s wishlist for years, and despite trying to bring him to Tyneside in each of the last two summer windows, the move has never happened.
Alan Shearer believes that this year is our year, though. Trafford clearly has regrets about going back to Manchester City, who brought in Gianluigi Donnarumma shortly after re-signing the England stopper from Burnley.
Speaking he Rest Is Football podcast this week, Shearer sounded hopeful that the 23-year-old will finally arrive on Tyneside this summer.
“He’s coming to Newcastle, lads,”
“It wouldn’t surprise me. It was almost done and dusted last summer and then, for whatever reason, City came back in with a buy-back clause.
“I guess he thought that he was going there as a No.1 [goalkeeper], and clearly other things took over with Donnarumma [moving to City].
“I would like to think that Newcastle would be back in for him. He will definitely have options, but if he was that close to Newcastle last summer, I would see no reason for him to not be that close again.”
Trafford showed everyone how good he is on Sunday with a brilliant triple save in the Carabao Cup final against Arsenal. He’s still a baby in goalkeeping terms and still has plenty to learn, so given where he’s starting from, we believe he could become one of the best keepers in the world.
If he is available again this summer, then Newcastle absolutely have to go back in for him. Forget what happened last year; we all make mistakes. We should swallow our pride and offer him a way out of Manchester and straight into our first team.
He has been keen to sign for us before, and if we show willingness again, that’s got to mean something to him. Providing City’s asking price isn’t sky high, and personal terms can be agreed, I’d be shocked if we didn’t rekindle our interest.