Man City recruits James Trafford, Pep Guardiola sets unbelievable record for military leadership

(NLDO) - Man City asked to buy the goalkeeper they trained themselves, when bringing James Trafford back to Etihad Stadium after 2 years with a record price in English football.

James Trafford joined Man City's "training center" at the age of 12 and this 1.98m tall goalkeeper was sent on loan to Accrington and Bolton before officially joining Burnley two seasons ago for £14 million.

James Trafford returns to his "old home" Man City with shirt number 1

Strengthening the defense with "old friend" James Trafford

The goalkeeper position is a big problem at Man City, with both Ederson and Stefan Ortega having expressed their desire to leave this summer. Therefore, the Etihad team decided to act immediately, especially when Newcastle are also "looking" at the goalkeeper of both the U21 and the England national team.

According to the terms of the transfer contract signed with Burnley 2 years ago, Man City has priority to buy back James Trafford, of course at the current market value. Having to spend twice as much as when selling, Man City still has no hesitation in owning the talented goalkeeper they trained themselves.

Man City had to pay double the amount they sold James Trafford two years ago

The deal for James Trafford is worth £31m, which could rise if add-ons are triggered. Man City have even agreed to include a percentage of future transfers in the deal, making the 22-year-old 'Spider-Man' the subject of a new British transfer record for a goalkeeper.

In a 35-second video clip posted on social media, James Trafford shared: "The decision to return was easy. Being a goalkeeper for Man City has always been my dream. The club is like a second home, where I came here when I was 12 years old, training every day at CFA (City's training center). Every time I left, I always believed that one day I would return to Man City and now everything is going as I wanted. My job is very simple - don't let the opponent score."

Man City homepage welcomes James Trafford's return

In 2023-24, James Trafford conceded just 16 goals as Burnley secured promotion to the Premier League, while keeping an incredible 30 clean sheets in the Championship, equalling a 71-year-old EFL record and prompting Thomas Tuchel to call Trafford up for England.

Spending record

With the successful recruitment of James Trafford, Pep Guardiola became the first manager in football history to officially break the €2 billion mark - around £1.73 billion - on player spending. In the summer of 2025, the players he brought to the Etihad Stadium included Tijjani Reijnders (€53.8 million), Rayan Ait-Nouri (€36.2 million), Rayan Cherki (€39.8 million) and now James Trafford with €36 million.

Tijjani Reijnders and Rayan Cherki have transfer values of nearly 100 million euros

The €2 billion milestone is calculated based on his entire coaching career, starting with Barcelona in 2008, then Bayern Munich and now Man City.

Behind Guardiola in the list of the highest-spending coaches are Diego Simeone (Atletico Madrid) with 1.31 billion euros, Massimiliano Allegri (1.2 billion euros), England head coach Thomas Tuchel (1.19 billion euros) and Antonio Conte with 1.16 billion euros.

Source: https://nld.com.vn/man-city-chieu-mo-james-trafford-pep-guardiola-lap-ky-luc-kho-tin-cua-gioi-cam-quan-196250730082456289.htm