Last Season
James Trafford has recently been touted with a return to the Championship, possibly with Wrexham just months after being promoted from the second tier. Last season, Burnley’s defence was absolutely outstanding, breaking all sorts of records.
For example, they kept the most clean sheets in Championship history, the most consecutive Championship clean sheets and they conceded the fewest goals in a Championship season. Trafford would also lead the way in several key goalkeeping statistics, including having the highest clean sheet and save percentages with 65.9% and 84.8% respectively.
Burnley’s record-breaking defensive season in numbers – bet365 News UK
Manchester City
Following this incredible display, Trafford would return to Manchester City, the club from which he had joined Burnley back in 2023. Many saw this as Trafford’s path to battling Jordan Pickford for England’s number one spot at the upcoming World Cup.
Things started off well for the twenty-two-year-old, as he kept a clean sheet in City’s opening game of the season against Wolves. However, a mistake in his next game against Tottenham and City were looking for alternatives.
Ederson was still at the club, as was Stefan Ortega, but Pep Guardiola had his eye on someone new. Gianluigi Donnarumma.
Following a brilliant season with PSG, during which the French side won the Champions League, it suddenly became apparent that the Italian was no longer wanted in Paris. The most common reason sighted for this change of heart was that Donnarumma wanted an improved contract, which the club declined.
He was swiftly replaced with Lille goalkeeper Lucas Chevalier, leading the Italian to the Etihad. This must’ve been a nightmare for Trafford.
Donnarumma is only twenty-six and arguably the best goalkeeper in the world at the moment. Unless Donnarumma gets injured, Trafford isn’t going to be starting again anytime soon.
The Future
So, could a return to the Championship be on the cards for the Englishman? It was recently reported that Southampton and Leicester City were interested in bringing the shot-stopper in once the January transfer window opens.
Leicester have started the season well, sitting fifth in the league and keeping three clean sheets so far. Whereas Southampton haven’t quite had the start to the season that they were hoping for, with the Saints currently nineteenth in the table, with only one league clean sheet to their name.
Other Options
Middlesbrough
Perhaps a surprising one considering that Boro are top of the league right now, but Trafford would still be an upgrade to their goalkeeping department. Despite their very impressive start, Middlesborough’s goalkeeping statistics haven’t been so good.
Solomon Brynn has the second lowest save percentage in the league at just 54.5%. Having a low save percentage doesn’t automatically mean that a goalkeeper has performed poorly, after all if you’re not facing many shots there is only a certain number of saves you can make, but Brynn has only faced eleven shots on target, and he’s conceded five of them.
https://fbref.com/en/comps/10/keepers/Championship-Stats
For reference, Stoke City, Bristol City, Leicester City and Preston North End, who occupy places three through six in the league table, have the four best save percentages in the league, with the lowest being 74.1%. If Middlesborough want to ensure promotion to the Premier League, replacing Brynn between the sticks might not be the worst idea.
However, statistics aren’t everything. In seven Championship games so far, the twenty-four-year-old has kept three clean sheets and Middlesborough’s five goals conceded is the joint lowest in the league.
Wildcard: Wrexham
Wrexham have been quite up and down so far this season. After heavy investment in the summer, the start to the campaign hasn’t quite lived up to the billing, with the Welsh side failing to win a league game until their fourth attempt.
Since then, manager Phil Parkinson has managed to steady the ship somewhat with a win against Norwich and a draw against Derby. But he is still under pressure.
It is still early days, but Wrexham will not be happy with their current league position of fifteenth. They have conceded the joint second most goals this season (thirteen in seven games), with only Hull City conceding more.
New signing Danny Ward has been out injured since the end of August and Arthur Okonkwo has looked shaky at times, so Trafford would certainly be an upgrade. How likely is James Trafford to sign for Wrexham?
I think it’s safe to say, not very. But it wouldn’t be the first time an English goalkeeper has joined the club from out of nowhere, with Ben Foster coming out of retirement to sign for them back in 2023.
Furthermore, Wrexham get a lot of media attention due to their Hollywood ownership, so if Trafford is able to grab the headlines in the second half of the season, he could really put himself in contention for a place on the plane to the World Cup.
