James Trafford should stay and fight for his place at Manchester City under their new head coach Enzo Maresca, according to former City and England goalkeeper David James. However, James concedes a move to Newcastle United 'ticks all the boxes' if Trafford is told he won't be the club's number one goalkeeper.
Newcastle's goalkeeping search
The Magpies are known to be in the market this summer, despite already signing France under-21 international Ewen Jaouen from Stade Reims. Nick Pope could leave the club after four years on Tyneside after a difficult season last term, while Aaron Ramsdale, John Ruddy and Max Thompson have already left Newcastle this summer.
Trafford remains Newcastle's dream target after almost making the move to St James' Park last summer, but any deal will prove to be expensive and they would have to wait for the 23-year-old to return to City after representing England at the World Cup before he makes any decision. Newcastle have other targets in mind they may move on in the meantime.
James's verdict
"If I were him, I would stay and try and fight for my place," James told Grosvenor Sport. "What he has demonstrated when he has played, he has been superb. I mean, there are a couple of league games granted, and I think he only played four league games in the end. But definitely in the cups, where he is playing under pressure, especially at Wembley in front of 90,000 people in tough games, he has handled that pressure extremely well."
"I think Man City look a more controlled side when he is playing. I love Donnarumma, I think he is a fantastic goalkeeper, but I think with James Trafford, there's a lot more scope for Man City to play and I think, depending on how Maresca wants to set his thing up, James Trafford would be my number one there."
"However, if Maresca or the club thought that James wasn't going to be the number one, then I think he would have to move on because, as you say, Jordan Pickford, excellent as he is, needs a proper challenger from someone who is playing regularly in a first team."
"The question for James Trafford is where would he go? Would it be one of the promoted sides where he could be under pressure again like he was when he was at Burnley in that relegation season, or would there be a bigger club looking for a goalkeeper of his stature? Maybe Newcastle? And I think all the boxes could be ticked with James Trafford."
"So first of all, stay at the club. You're not going to get much bigger than Manchester City. Well, actually, you're not going to get as successful as Man City over the last five or six years. So yeah, I would stay, but if not, then he has got to be playing to get that England number one spot."
