Newcastle United may now have to pay almost double to land top goalkeeper target after waiting a year

Newcastle United reportedly came very close to signing Burnley goalkeeper James Trafford 12 months ago, but instead ended up with John Ruddy and Odysseas Vlachodimos. It still makes no sense to us either.

Last summer, there were plenty of raised eyebrows when the Magpies looked like they were about to spend £20 million on Trafford, who had just been relegated from the Premier League with Burnley and lost his place as first-choice between the sticks.

However, a year later and Trafford has had a phenomenal season for the Clarets, keeping 29 clean sheets in the Championship while conceding just 16 goals in 45 games as Burnley returned to the top flight via a second-place finish.

Now that level of performance, combined with Burnley's renewed Premier League status, James Trafford is expected to cost more than the £20 million we almost had him for last year.

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Burnley are in a stronger position to push up the price of James Trafford

Before the season ended, Newcastle had been reported as having the deal for James Trafford sewn up, which was later shot down by Craig Hope, and now, five days into the first transfer window this summer, it's clear that Hope was right, as there still seems to be no resolution in sight.

Indeed, The Chronicle are today reporting that the Magpies are still weighing up a move given how Trafford's valuation has almost doubled.

It's now expected to cost £35 million to prise the 22-year-old away from Burnley, though with Manchester City having a £40 million+ buy-back option, Burnley could really push their luck.

£35 million for a 22-year-old goalkeeper with such raw talent will prove to be a bargain

For us, the key is that Trafford is just 22, which makes him a foetus in goalkeeping terms. But the fact that he just kept 26 clean sheets in the Championship, and though he's not been capped, has been called up to the senior England side already, makes us believe that £35 million could still prove to be an absolute bargain.

Nick Pope was an actual bargain at £10 million, but he was already hitting 30 (again, not old for a 'keeper), and Pope has glaring flaws in his game.

Trafford doesn't have as many flaws, but what flaws he has can be trained out of him as he's still young.

It's clear that there's a strong interest from Newcastle. The Chronicle says that the Magpies are waiting to see what happens with Nick Pope. We say, just get Trafford signed and deal with it then. It will all have to work itself out if you just pull the trigger.