Leeds United are surely going to press on for a new goalkeeper as soon as possible, and that man ought to be Manchester City’s James Trafford.
United’s next order of business simply has to be signing a new goalkeeper in the coming days or weeks. After bringing in Harry Wilson on a free transfer, and then winning the race to sign Tarik Muharemovic, the No1 position is next up.
Lucas Perri’s agreement with Torino, plus Karl Darlow going down the M62 leaves us without a nailed down starting ‘keeper for next season.
Leeds United should go for James Trafford over Zion Suzuki for goalkeeper transfer
We’re not short of speculation to sink our teeth into regarding a replacement goalkeeper. You can barely open your phone at the moment without another update on Parma and Japan’s Zion Suzuki, linked heavily with Leeds and now seemingly any other club in Europe that are in the market for a ‘keeper too.
To me, as much as the 23-year-old would be a smart addition at the right price, the volume of discussion around him probably stems from an agent far too eager to get his name out there. That sort of development doesn’t help Leeds getting a smart deal.
Instead, I still maintain that James Trafford would be the dream for Leeds. He’d be a drastic improvement on Darlow while nailing down that spot for years and years to come.
His Manchester City career was over before it even started last August, usurped by Gigi Donnarumma immediately. As a result, he’s surely receptive to approaches from clubs like Leeds that can guarantee him the starting spot at an ambitious Premier League club.
James Trafford asking price revealed as Leeds United ponder goalkeeper move
Of course, it looks as though Trafford isn’t rushing into a decision as he stays with the England squad for one more World Cup fixture.
In the meantime, though, Leeds – should we remain interested as was previously reported – will have been making preliminary checks to learn the conditions of a deal.
That includes likely contacting Trafford’s representatives to see how willing he would be to join Leeds. Then, there’s seeing if Man City want to play ball.
Donnarumma is somehow still only 27, albeit with the hamstrings of a 37-year-old, so that position is nailed down for the foreseeable. If the Citizens can muster up a big fee for Trafford, they could reinvest that in a more worthwhile asset that could play regularly.
The Daily Mail reported back in April that Enzo Maresca’s side could command around £35-40million for Trafford. This week, the Mirror have backed that up in confirming Leeds’ interest, alongside a £40million asking price. For Leeds, that’s a lot of money, but that could be a palatable sum to pin down a priority signing and not have to worry about that position for years.
How reliable that asking price is now is hard to say. But, we know that Trafford, or any ‘keeper of his ability and potential, won’t come cheap.
Like Muharemovic, some could view that as a big spend. I personally am not too fussed about the fee as long as it’s someone we know is going to come in and make that spot their own. The Bosnian does it, and so would Trafford.
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