Leeds United are said to be closing in on a deal that would shatter their current transfer record. The Whites have had a relatively quiet transfer window so far, snapping up two new players in the form of Harry Wilson and Tarik Muharemovic. Wilson arrived on a free deal, in what could be one of the coups of the summer, while Muharemovic cost £34.1million, with the centre-back arriving to replace Pascal Struijk, who joined Brighton.
But as Daniel Farke and Leeds look to become Premier League mainstays, they are about to inject plenty of life into their summer transfer window, according to reports. The Whites need to add a new starting goalkeeper after allowing Karl Darlow to leave the club, and they are now said to be on track to smash their transfer record to sign a Premier League stopper.
Leeds pushing to land James Trafford
via Reuters
According to Alex Crook of TalkSport and others, Leeds are working on a deal to sign Manchester City and England goalkeeper James Trafford, and they could pay up to £50million to seal the deal. That would surpass the £35million paid for Georginio Rutter by some way, and it’s likely it will be a record deal even if the fee doesn’t quite reach that high.
City paid £27million to sign the ‘world-class’ stopper from Burnley, having actually sold him as a youngster, and he has hardly played, with Gianluigi Donnarumma having been signed to replace him as the club’s number one almost instantly last summer. City were planning to make Trafford their starting keeper, but the Donnarumma opportunity was too good to turn down.
But Trafford wants to be a number one, and Leeds can offer that spot having lost Darlow, while they have also allowed Illan Meslier to leave the club this summer, albeit he was the third option.
According to the report, Trafford would also become Leeds’ highest-paid player, meaning he would earn more than the £100,000-per-week Dominic Calvert-Lewin earns. That would be an increase on the reported £93,000-per-week or so Trafford currently earns at Manchester City.
Trafford is a ‘world-class’ keeper
Trafford has regularly been praised, even while largely serving as a number two at City. Chelsea star Cole Palmer, who worked with the keeper in the City academy, once said: “Wow. He’s so good. You could see it in the academy. Even in training, he’s so hard to score past. I’m just glad everyone else is seeing it. He knows himself how good he is but he’s not arrogant. He’s a nice lad. He’s a normal lad who believes in himself.
“When he first came, everyone was thinking, ‘who’s this kid?’ As time went on, everyone was looking at each other, like ‘wow’. He just goes about his business on his own. I always say to him — even when we were little — that he is going to be world-class.”
Now former City boss Pep Guardiola said last year: “With Trafford, I see the training sessions and for a long time I haven’t seen a goalkeeper as good as James.”
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