Manchester City fans will be fascinated to see whether James Trafford could oust Ederson as their number one next season.
Trafford revealed he hugely admires Ederson but the Englishman would have accepted a return to City with the intrinsic confidence of taking his place in the side.
The 22-year-old is coming off the back of a splendid season for Burnley, conceding just 16 goals and keeping an astounding 30 clean sheets in the Championship.
With Trafford earning rave reviews from Cole Palmer among other big names within the game, it seems like the youngster is starting to realise his sky-high potential.
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Man City think James Trafford can become Pep Guardiola and England’s number one
However, now the pressure will be on James Trafford to impress Pep Guardiola enough to become his starting goalkeeper at Manchester City.
Trafford could be Manchester City’s number two at the start of the 2025/2026 season and it is believed that the player himself is aware of that being the case.
However, journalist Mark Ogden claimed on ESPN FC that City feel the Carlisle-born shotstopper has the potential to become Pep Guardiola and England’s number one in the future.
“I’ve been told that City really think that James Trafford can really push Ederson to become the number one. They think they can become a future England goalkeeper, push Jordan Pickford for that spot.”
James Trafford stats compared to Ederson and Jordan Pickford last season
Considering Manchester City re-signed Trafford for £27 million, making him the 10th-most expensive goalkeeper in the history of the game, it comes as no surprise that they believe he is the real deal.
Based on the past year, the England U-21 star’s stats read impressively as well.
| STATS PER 90 | JAMES TRAFFORD | EDERSON | JORDAN PICKFORD |
| PSxG-GA | +0.26 | +0.05 | +0.13 |
| SAVE % | 84.5% | 66.4% | 73% |
| CLEAN SHEET % | 64.5% | 33.3% | 31.6% |
| DEFENSIVE ACTIONS OUTSIDE PENALTY AREA | 1.11 | 1.95 | 1.5 |
The metrics clearly show that Trafford could oust Ederson and Pickford respectively for club and country.
However, with all three goalkeepers playing in sides that suffered their own challenges and played varying systems, perhaps the next few years will better indicate how far the Manchester City new-boy can go.
