Burnley have completed the signing of England Under-21 goalkeeper James Trafford from Manchester City.
The 20-year-old has put pen to paper on a four-year contract at Turf Moor until the summer of 2027 and joins the Clarets for an undisclosed fee, believed to be worth in the region of £19m.
Trafford becomes Vincent Kompany’s sixth signing of the summer transfer window after the arrivals of Lawrence Vigouroux, Michael Obafemi, Dara O’Shea, Jordan Beyer and Zeki Amdouni, the latter of whom officially joined Burnley on Wednesday.
Speaking to Burnley’s official website on his arrival at the club, Trafford said: “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 and achieve as much as we can going forward.”
Kompany added: “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 all ready and what excites us is how far he can go.”
Trafford joined Man City’s academy at the age of 12 back in 2015, but he departs the Etihad Stadium having failed to make a single senior appearance for Pep Guardiola’s side.
Nevertheless, the shot-stopper gained valuable first-team experience during a successful 18-month loan spell with League One club Bolton Wanderers, who finished fifth in the third tier last season and won the EFL
Trafford was a standout performer during his temporary spell with the Trotters and kept 33 clean sheets in 74 appearances across all tournaments, including 22 shutouts in 47 League One games in 2022-23.
The Cumbrian-born goalkeeper also excelled for England in their triumphant European Under-21 Championship campaign earlier this month, keeping six clean sheets in as many matches and saving a last-minute penalty in the 1-0 final victory over Spain.
Trafford is set to battle with Arijanet Muric for the number one jersey at Burnley, and he could make his Premier League debut against none other than Man City in the opening fixture of the 2023-24 season on August 11.
