Manchester City are closing in on their sixth signing of the summer but it won’t impress Jamie Carragher much.
The battle lines are being drawn ahead of the new Premier League season, with all the possible title challengers spending heavily alongside Manchester City in the summer transfer market.
Reigning champions Liverpool are leading the charge, with their spending set to reach £300m when the expected signing of Hugo Ekitike is confirmed. They might still sign the £150m-rated Alexander Isak, too.
Though City could match Liverpool’s spending, they have currently spent half as much.
Rayan Cherki, Tijjani Reijnders, Rayan Ait Nouri, Sverre Nypan and Marcus Bettinelli have all been signed so far.
James Trafford will soon join them in a £27m switch after the goalkeeper chose a return to City over Newcastle United.
However, Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher believes Trafford won’t help them win the title.
Jamie Carragher’s James Trafford verdict does not look good for Manchester City
Speaking on a fan debate episode of the Overlap podcast in March, Carragher was discussing City’s upcoming rebuild with a supporter.
When the fan suggested, with keen foresight, that City could bring Trafford back, Carragher dismissed the signing out of hand.
“That’s not enough,” he interjected, before adding: “You’re not going to win the league with James Trafford.”
Manchester United icon Paul Scholes sat beside Carragher on the sofa and chimed in: “He struggled in the Premier League before.”
How Man City are already proving Carragher wrong on Trafford
Luckily for City, Trafford isn’t their only signing this summer so they don’t have to worry about him being enough on his own.
In addition, they’re working to ally Carragher’s doubts by enacting a clever succession plan. Trafford isn’t going to be No.1 immediately, as Ederson is not leaving this summer.
Instead, Trafford will rotate with the Brazilian and provide serious competition under the learning tree of Ederson for a season before his contract expires.
With any luck, Trafford will be ready to take on the mantle when he does depart.
Though Scholes is right with his assertion that Trafford struggled when he was last in the Premier League, he was in a terrible Burnley side, which continued to play a passing game they couldn’t do under Vincent Kompany.
Trafford was repeatedly played into trouble and was peppered with shots in every game. That won’t be the case at City, so he has a much better chance of being a success.
