July 20, (THEWILL) – Burnley have successfully finalised the acquisition of promising goalkeeper, James Trafford, on a four-year contract from treble-winning Manchester City.
The 20-year-old talent joins Turf Moor from the Etihad for an undisclosed fee, following a productive loan spell at League One club Bolton during the previous season. Trafford’s exceptional performance during the European Under-21 Championship proved instrumental in England’s triumph, where his remarkable diving save denied Spain’s Abel Ruiz a penalty-kick goal in stoppage time, securing a 1-0 win in the final.
An excited Trafford stated: “I feel very happy to officially be a Burnley player. I was excited for it to all get done whilst the Euros was going on, I knew a lot about it and I was waiting to get back to make it all official really. I want to improve and learn as much as I can here and as a team. I just want to take it a day at a time and try to achieve as much as we can going forward.”
The talented young goalkeeper’s arrival comes after Burnley’s commendable performance last season, where they finished atop the Championship with 101 points, earning their promotion back into the English Premier League. Manager Vincent Kompany was eager to witness Trafford’s potential impact in next season’s campaign: “We’ve signed an extremely talented young man. More than just a talent, he’s a great character. James is a very impressive, confident mature young man.
“Most people have seen what he’s achieved in his career so far and his level of talent. We’re looking forward to developing that even further, making him even better. He’s done so much already, and what excites us is how far he can go.”
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
