James Trafford has acknowledged that his move to Manchester City last summer did not lead to the starting role he expected. He signed for the club with the impression of a fresh opportunity, only for Gianluigi Donnarumma to become available less than three weeks later. Donnarumma joined City for \u00a326 million on Sept. 1 and has established himself as the club\u2019s first-choice goalkeeper since, leaving Trafford as Pep Guardiola\u2019s cup keeper.<\/p>\n
The 23-year-old, speaking after his 11th appearance of the season in Saturday\u2019s 2\u20130 win over Salford, was measured about the turn of events. \u201cI didn\u2019t expect the situation to happen, but it happened, so just get on with it,\u201d he said. Trafford made clear he had not been guaranteed the starting spot and admitted the reality differed from his hopes. \u201c[The plan] wasn\u2019t what happened,\u201d he said. \u201cIt is what it is. It\u2019s football, it is what it is, you\u2019ve got to keep grafting every day and the games that come, play as hard as you can. It\u2019s just another experience to add to my career and yeah, it has been good learning.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know what happens next season,\u201d Trafford reflected. \u201cI just know that I\u2019ll just take it a day at a time and try and improve.\u201d<\/p>\n
Those comments sit against a wider context. After impressing at Burnley there were suggestions Trafford could be on the cusp of England recognition for this summer\u2019s World Cup. The arrival of Donnarumma, however, has reduced the likelihood of Trafford displacing Everton\u2019s Jordan Pickford for international selection and has left his club prospects in doubt.<\/p>\n
Trafford was reportedly open to leaving City in January but was told by Guardiola he would be needed as cover for Donnarumma; third-choice Stefan Ortega left in the winter window. Clubs linked with interest for the future include Newcastle, although they must decide on Aaron Ramsdale\u2019s option to buy, plus Aston Villa and West Ham United.<\/p>\n
Trafford has insisted he received no assurances about a starting role, a point that removes any suggestion of legal wrongdoing and highlights how modern transfers can change quickly. At the time of his transfer Donnarumma was not available, only to become a late option that City felt compelled to take. It is a harsh outcome for Trafford, but one the club judged necessary as they strengthened their squad.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Trafford accepts a backup role at City after Donnarumma joined; he will take each day as it comes…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6903,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[238,1163],"tags":[1305,1304],"class_list":["post-6904","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-manchester-city","category-transfers","tag-bench-selection","tag-benching"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6904","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6904"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6904\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6903"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6904"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6904"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6904"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}