"What a horrendous, horrendous feeling. Not playing," James Trafford said of his time at Manchester City. That frustration helped shape his move to Leeds, where he has started every Premier League match so far and already looks settled into the role he wanted all along.
City's logjam in goal
City re-signed Trafford in July 2025, two years after he left for Burnley. Less than six weeks after he came back, Gianluigi Donnarumma joined from Paris St-Germain and immediately became City's first-choice goalkeeper.
Trafford's route out of the side was abrupt. After starting the first three matches of the campaign, he made just one further Premier League start in the 35 games that followed Donnarumma's arrival. Donnarumma has also played nine Premier League matches for City, with a 6.97 league rating that fits a team still sitting second and conceding only 10 league goals in nine matches.
The Leeds reset
The move to Leeds was worth up to £45m, a record fee for a British goalkeeper, and it has given Trafford the minutes he wanted. He has started all nine of Leeds' Premier League matches this season, logged 813 minutes and kept three clean sheets.
His own view of that spell at City is more measured than the outside noise around it. "In the moment, I just tried to make the best of it as I could. Looking back, I don't think it was a disappointing season in the end because I learned so much, I improved so much and I won two trophies in one year," he said.
The England target has not gone away. "It's my aim and it's something I've always dreamed of," Trafford said, and he added that he believes he can become England's number one one day if he keeps improving. Leeds are 12th in the Premier League and two points off the European places before this weekend's fixtures, so the platform is there, but the only thing Trafford can control is the run of starts in front of him.
Written by Jack Mercer with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 1 outlet. How we work →
