James Trafford returns to Manchester City in £27m deal after Newcastle snub

James Trafford will rejoin Manchester City from Burnley after the club matched a £27m offer from Newcastle for the goalkeeper, who will sign a five-year deal at the Etihad Stadium.

The 22-year-old started his career at City after joining the academy from Carlisle. He never made a first-team appearance for the club, spending time on loan at Accrington, Bolton and Burnley before moving to Turf Moor for £14m.

Trafford will join Ederson and Stefan Ortega at City in the battle to be first choice. Ederson has been a regular under Pep Guardiola but is a target for Galatasaray while Ortega has been the subject of numerous inquiries this summer.

Newcastle had targeted Trafford for the past two seasons and thought they had convinced him to move to St James’ Park, only to be beaten to him by City, who included a matching rights clause when they sold Trafford to Burnley.

Trafford spent a season in the Premier League under the former City captain Vincent Kompany. Like most of the Burnley team, the goalkeeper struggled and was eventually dropped in favour of Arijanet Muric.

Last season, Trafford rebuilt his reputation in the Championship as part of a rigid Burnley defence, helping them finish second in the league to earn promotion. He has regularly been named in England squads but his yet to make his international debut.