Leeds United set for club-record James Trafford signing

Leeds United have agreed to a club-record move for England international goalkeeper James Trafford, as per journalist David Ornstein.

The Whites set their sights on the 23-year-old goalkeeper and have convinced Manchester City to part ways with him permanently

They will pay £40 million plus add-ons to sign the former Burnley man, who was at the FIFA World Cup this summer.

Trafford will get a chance to be first-choice between the sticks, having spent most of the 2025-26 season on the bench at Man City.

The Cityzens re-signed academy graduate Trafford after a fine season with Burnley in the Championship.

However, the signing of Gianluigi Donnarumma a few weeks later put paid to his ambition of starting regularly, and he became the club’s go-to man for cup competitions.

Trafford made just 17 appearances across all competitions and has now decided to leave the club.

The £40m fee would exceed the previous club record of £35.5m paid for Georginio Rutter in January 2023.

They have been active this summer, signing defender Tarik Muharemovic and forward Harry Wilson.

Leeds is the perfect destination for Trafford

Leeds have let go of two of their three senior goalkeepers from last season, leaving them light in that department.

Karl Darlow, who played over half of their Premier League games, has left the club to join Manchester United as a free agent.

Illan Meslier has moved to Arsenal for free, leaving only Lucas Perri at the club. Perri has failed to perform consistently, leading to their pursuit of Trafford this summer.

Trafford is one of the best young goalkeepers in the world and has been touted as England’s next number one.

The move to Leeds will give him the perfect platform to launch his career as a top-flight goalkeeper fully.