'It was close': James Trafford opens up about almost leaving Burnley last summer with Newcastle United heavily linked

Burnley goalkeeper James Trafford was reportedly very close to moving to Newcastle United last summer, but for one reason or another, the deal fell through.

Newcastle were still chasing Trafford even after having signed John Ruddy and Odysseas Vlachodimos, and should Newcastle have landed the young 'keeper, the Magpies would have gone into the 2024/25 season with six goalkeepers on the books.

One year on, and James Trafford is coming off the back of an astonishing season in the Championship with Burnley, having kept 26 clean sheets during the league campaign.

However, Trafford has now confessed to Ben Foster on the latest Fozcast that things were almost very different last summer. Trafford speaks about coming close to a move, without naming the club, but we can be pretty confident it was Newcastle.

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James Trafford says he almost left Burnley last summer

Trafford admits to sulking last summer when the move fell apart, but looking at his form, it's fair to say he got over it pretty quickly.

"In the summer, I think people knew I wanted to move. The club that I was close to going it was a good fit for me. It was brilliant for me and I really believed in it.

“I wanted to move, not just because I didn’t want to play in the Championship, I had no shame playing in the Championship. I have no ego to think I’m better than the Championship. You only prove something by performing and showing people. You can say whatever you want, but unless you perform.

“It was just when an opportunity and a situation you think suits you can happen, you should take it, and you should try and go for it, so I wanted to move. It was close, but it didn’t end up happening.

“The manager was brilliant throughout pre-season. I wasn’t the best, I was moody because I’m young and I wanted to move, but at the moment, I still worked extremely hard.

“I knew the longer it went on, the reality became I would be playing the first game of the season, and I wanted to play. I told the manager I’m available if he wants to select me. If not, I’ll sit on the bench, but I’m available. He played me the first game, and that was it.”

James Trafford is likely to cost Newcastle United much more than the £20m he would have cost last year

Newcastle have once again been strongly linked with a move for the 22-year-old this summer, with the future of all five goalkeepers well and truly up in the air at Newcastle.

However, off the back of Trafford's fantastic season and Burnley's subsequent promotion, the Clarets are likely to demand way more than the £20 million we almost got him for last summer.

We just hope that Newcastle's propensity to dilly-dally in the transfer market doesn't give another club the time to swoop in and take Trafford away before we've woken up.