Cole Palmer once made a bold prediction on James Trafford and it should leave Manchester City giddy.
After an already busy summer transfer window, which has seen Rayan Cherki, Tijjani Reijnders and Rayan Ait Nouri arrive at the club, Manchester City are closing in on their sixth summer signing.
City have reached an agreement to sign James Trafford from Burnley, with the Blues matching Newcastle United’s £27m bid to bring him back to the club.
City sold Trafford to Burnley for £14m in 2023 but are bringing him back to the Etihad Stadium to enhance Pep Guardiola’s goalkeeping options.
Trafford won’t be No.1 immediately, though, as Ederson is staying, but he will provide fierce competition for the spot.
Stefan Ortega is expected to depart but City have surely got an upgrade in Trafford, who Cole Palmer predicted would be world-class when the pair were just kids in the City academy.
What Cole Palmer said to James Trafford when they were young
Palmer and Trafford were teammates for years in the City academy, as well as with England, and the Chelsea man recognised early on the potential that the goalkeeper has.
“He’s so good. Even in training, he’s so hard to score past,” the winger explained,” the Manchester Evening News reported in 2023.
“I first met him at under 12s. When he first came, everyone was thinking: ‘Who’s this kid?’. He came from Carlisle and as time went on everyone was looking at each other like: ‘Wow’.
“I always say to him, even when we were little, that he is going to be world class. I don’t think everyone has seen it yet and this tournament he is showing it now. I already knew how good he was, and I am just glad everyone is seeing it.”
Should Trafford reach the heights Palmer expects, then they have already signed the perfect Ederson replacement.
Praise for James Trafford ahead of completing Manchester City transfer
Palmer is not the only person to have praised Trafford over the years, or even the only one to label him as ‘world class.’
Trafford’s potential first shone through during a highly successful 18 months on loan at Bolton Wanderers in League One, which earned him his move to Burnley.
Though he struggled in the Premier League, Trafford enjoyed a record-breaking Championship campaign last term.
Trafford conceded just 16 goals and kept 29 clean sheets, both records, and he earned big praise from manager Scott Parker.
“There’s no denying at the beginning of the season, the work we all had to do with Traff and where he was, there was a lot of work,” Parker told BBC Radio Lancashire.
“He needed to engage in that. He needed to take a breath and take stock and decide where he wanted to be, and to be fair to him, I’ve seen someone mature. There’s no denying that he’s a world-class keeper.
“How you judge keepers is in big moments.
“Even at the back end of the game. They’re down to nine men, he’s barely had anything to do. Fella hits one from 30 yards and he has to pull off a save.
“Not sleeping, diligent. He’s just a top, top keeper.”
Vincent Kompany has called Trafford ‘terrific’ and he’s also earned praise from Ashley Cole, Lee Carsley, Anthony Gordon, Nedum Onuoha, Harvey Elliott, Joe Hart, Adedire Mebude and even Rishi Sunak in recent years.
