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James Trafford: £16m bid rejected but 'expectation of progress' (Hope)


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1 hour ago, Optimistic Nut said:

 

I still think he was signed to be number 1 but Gordon's trajectory from the Euro 21s and how he started the season earned the spot. 

I like Barnes and really want him to succeed here, but if we had a plan for the funds, I'd probably take our money back for him if we had the chance, to be honest.

 

I don't doubt he's effective, but considering the options we've got there now (I'm assuming Willock's career isn't goosed), I'd rather have that £45m somewhere else on the pitch, bearing in mind we're playing a lot less games for 12 months.

 

Certainly hope to be eating those words next season.

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6 minutes ago, Dr.Spaceman said:

Crazy, Harvey Barnes is mint and a real asset to the squad.

Yeah, it's not really meant as a comment on him, more just about where I'd use the funds if I had the choice all over again.

 

Assuming Willock is good to go (big assumption, I admit), and considering what we now know about Gordon, Hall, Joelinton and others, I just wouldn't be looking to spend £45m on Barnes this summer. I'd be aiming at the spine of the team (or the critical RW spot, but I'm hoping we're already going to sort that one out...).

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Posted (edited)

In the main we've signed good players. The biggest issue in recent windows the question "is this the right position/profile that the squad needs to challenge this season?"

Barnes is a good player. But he's a bench warmer.

Hall & Livramento are excellent talents but spent most of the season as back-ups. Not rotation option like Barnes but a full back-up. Hall 4th choice at a point.

 

Trafford is in the same bracket. I'm ok with the transfer, surely an upgrade on Dubs. £16m is a decent price too. But he's surely backup for next season and we only have 2 guaranteed back-up games. If we can sign a top class CB & RW, no worries. But we've seen we'll sign a great back-up and leave Murpy/Almiron as our RW options.

 

Last season was such narrow margins. The Pope injury cost us 6th. The Joelinton injury too. Or the Tonali suspension. Trafford would close one of those gaps.

 

 

Edited by The College Dropout

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Burnley mate of mine says this:

 

"He absolutely did not shine at a relegated Burnley side, we were calling for him to dropped for literally months, he was completely miss managed by Kompany, he was starting every game and it cost us massively... as soon as he was dropped we started picking up points.... he will be a great goal keeper 100% but honestly, he's nowhere near Prem level right now"

 

Hope Pope has an injury free campaign then.

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Even if he does, a year on the training ground isn’t going to make him a prem goalkeeper without many errors. He could end up playing in 25/26 where his last prem game was being dropped for poor form in 23/24 season. 
 

Would need a loan. If we sign him, then loan him out to a championship club, I would be more happy IMO. Gets him that experience and he’s on our books ready for 25/26. 

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Definitely think there's some legs to the theory that Tosin goosed the budget.

 

We were  potentially looking at Ramsdale and Marmadashvili, but we've pivoted towards a cheaper development signing to enable the signing of a RCB.

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31 minutes ago, Amir_9 said:

Burnley mate of mine says this:

 

"He absolutely did not shine at a relegated Burnley side, we were calling for him to dropped for literally months, he was completely miss managed by Kompany, he was starting every game and it cost us massively... as soon as he was dropped we started picking up points.... he will be a great goal keeper 100% but honestly, he's nowhere near Prem level right now"

 

Hope Pope has an injury free campaign then.

 

Probably very different with a better team in front of him.

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21 minutes ago, Pixelphish said:

 

Probably very different with a better team in front of him.

Aye, confidence makes a massive difference to any player. Playing in a side in a relegation fight all season with fans calling for him to be dropped for months would have shattered his confidence 

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Trafford is a talent but I'm not too sure the transfer on the face of it makes sense

 

He isn't good enough to be a starter at this moment in time, he was massively out of his depth and too raw last season

 

Coming here to sit behind Pope doesn't do a great deal for him, he needs to play week in week out and in a season or two he could be ready 

 

I quite like the suggestion of us buying Trafford but loaning him back to Burnley and we then loan Muric for a season or two 

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Athletic article on him from last month. Nothing particularly revealing like.

 

Spoiler

If James Trafford had been told back in August that his first season of Premier League football would end with him being named in England’s provisional Euro 2024 squad, it’s unlikely he would have guessed that his campaign would have featured fan criticism, losing his place and relegation.

Gareth Southgate, however, clearly remains convinced that a goalkeeper who arrived at Turf Moor last summer from Manchester City for an initial £15million ($19m) has something to offer.

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Perhaps the England manager is remembering Trafford’s last tournament outing, for the under-21s in their own European Championship, where his displays helped earn that move. Trafford’s crucial penalty save in the dying seconds of the final against Spain helped England win the trophy without conceding a goal.

Burnley were certainly thrilled they signed him. Manager Vincent Kompany, and many others, believed Trafford would eventually become an established England goalkeeper. Plenty still do.

But there is no escaping the fact that Trafford’s first year in the top flight was a trying one.

A player who had not played senior football above League One level before last summer was left exposed. True, he was not helped by Burnley’s difficult early fixture list, tactical naivety and a weak back line in front of him, but there were other problems. He was struggling in possession, often too slow when releasing the ball and failing to command his area from set pieces.

Despite calls for change, Kompany kept faith. More games meant more experience and more time to develop. There were promising signs and he made 10 and eight saves respectively in games against Brighton & Hove Albion and Liverpool in December.

Trafford was not making high-profile errors, but his statistics showed that he was underperforming. He conceded 62 goals (including five penalties and two Burnley own goals) in 28 matches. The 55 non-penalty goals scored by opponents came from an expected goals total of 49.6, which means he conceded 5.4 more goals than he should have. According to FBref.com, his save percentage (65.7) ranked 19th out of 25 goalkeepers who made 15 or more appearances.

James Trafford was a star in the European Under-21 Championship (Sam Barnes – Sportsfile/UEFA via Getty Images)

Trafford’s big blunder came away to Crystal Palace when his poor pass intended for Josh Brownhill was intercepted by Jefferson Lerma and resulted in his team-mate bringing down the Palace midfielder. Brownhill was sent off and Burnley lost 3-0.

His plight wasn’t helped by the connection Burnley supporters had formed with Arijanet Muric, who had been named in the Championship team of the season for 2022-23. They were not afraid to voice their thoughts and it appeared to impact Trafford’s confidence, especially in the 2-0 home defeat to Bournemouth at the beginning of March.

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He remained in goal but was dropped for the home game against Brentford in the final game before the international break. Muric started and impressed in Burnley’s 2-1 victory, making a handful of vital saves and showing off his passing range.

Muric played all 10 of Burnley’s remaining games. It coincided with an upturn in form – one defeat in eight games, seven of which he played in – and saw Kompany’s side rekindle their survival hopes. It made many question why the manager had not made the change earlier or started the campaign with the Kosovo international.

Kompany’s reluctance made more sense following Muric’s two high-profile errors in possession against Everton and Brighton, which cost Burnley three vital points. Still, the 25-year-old conceded 14 non-penalty goals scored by opponents from an expected goals total of 20.1, meaning he prevented 6.1 goals, the best record of any goalkeeper who played over 900 minutes.

Trafford was understandably disappointed at being dropped so late into the season, but he has largely been a positive presence around the training ground. He was already close to fellow summer arrival Aaron Ramsey, but he has a bubbly personality and has formed strong bonds with his new team-mates.

Southgate clearly rates him. The England manager has often looked favourably on players who have emerged through the England pathway and the fact Trafford was called into the senior squad when Sam Johnstone injured his elbow in the March international break underlined how highly he is thought of.

James Trafford trains with England in March (Warren Little/Getty Images)

He has continued to be a consistent performer for the under-21s, earning 17 caps, and while it is a slight surprise to see him picked ahead of the more experienced Nick Pope and Jack Butland, Trafford fits the profile Southgate is looking for. He is comfortable with the ball at his feet, has shown his potential as a shot-stopper and is a good character – important for a No 3 goalkeeper who is likely to spend the tournament on the bench.

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The key is the potential. At 21, it would be wrong to write off Trafford. If selected as third-choice goalkeeper, it is an experience he will benefit from with the expectation he will be at many more tournaments in the future. He would provide a positive presence around the group.

Trafford’s future at Burnley is less certain. Having lost his place to Muric, the club’s goalkeeping situation is unclear. There has been interest in Trafford and a departure is possible. Burnley may have to cash in on the player to raise funds following relegation.

 

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14 minutes ago, The Prophet said:

Hall, Miley and Gordon have all developed nicely without game time to be fair, even Anderson post-Britol Rovers loan.

I think for keepers it's slightly different

 

It's a lonely position and you don't have the luxury of giving minutes here and there like you can with outfield players

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Didn't realise he was 6'6", anything under 20mil and we should be all over it. Very young for a GK, highly thought of, and could before a top keeper in years to come. 

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Perhaps the best 'young' English keeper out there, but that's not really saying much at the moment. 

 

19-24 year old English Keepers

 

Patterson (Sunderland)

Trafford (Burnley)

Whitworth (Palace)

Rushworth (Brighton)

Beadle (Brighton)

 

I'd want all of those to be getting 1st team football at the moment, not getting 3rd choice status with random cup games. 

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7 hours ago, The Prophet said:

Definitely think there's some legs to the theory that Tosin goosed the budget.

 

We were  potentially looking at Ramsdale and Marmadashvili, but we've pivoted towards a cheaper development signing to enable the signing of a RCB.

 

Are there many other decent freebies we could pick up for the CB position?

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Posted (edited)
15 minutes ago, Ketsbaia said:

Well..... he can't be worse than Dubravka.

Judging by his highlights from last season he definitely isn't. 

 

I know we need a RW, but despite the adversity of last season we'd have succeeded even more than we did and got by in other positions if we'd had a better number 2 to Pope.

 

I'm very pleased that Howe/the recruitment team have identified this as our main priority. 

 

 

Edited by Kid Icarus

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