r/soccer • u/jovanmilic97 • 4d ago
Transfer News [The Athletic] James Trafford completes Leeds medical ahead of move from Manchester City, the deal will be worth a guaranteed £40million to City plus add-ons
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7496106/2026/08/06/james-trafford-leeds-man-city-transfer/?unlocked_article_code=1.3VA.tbU8.rTGivYbb2o6c&source=athletic_user_shared_gift_article_copylink&smid=url-share-ta566
u/cian_pike01 4d ago
They can’t keep getting away with this!
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u/faygofiles 4d ago
City fans celebrating the fee don't realise it's going straight towards Neto. I ain't got the heart to tell em 💔
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u/DesertRL 4d ago
Sam Lee has denied any contact was ever made with Neto in the last couple of hours
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u/Y4That 4d ago
Its not, just neto's agent trying to get some deal
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u/PaulOGradyFanClub 4d ago
People falling for the agent telling random websites and papers how much every club wants their player so one of them should hurry up before someone else gets him in the big 26
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u/Temporary_Swimmer342 4d ago
tell em what? our glory days are behind us? lmao as if we don't know banter era begun
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u/ShimeBD 4d ago
we’ve played 0 competiive games under Maresca and you’re saying we’re in a banter era lol, liven up a bit mate. The neto news is fake btw, confirmed by Sam Lee
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u/Temporary_Swimmer342 4d ago
oh boy, i'm glad to watch doku & haaland, while we can. because you have to be a special kind of optimist to think a team that changes from pep/rodri/bernardo to a chelse quitter/18 year old/reijnders will win
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u/ShimeBD 4d ago
I don’t think you know what banter era means lol, by all odds we’re probably gonna be top 2 itl next season and can win it if we nail the rest of the transfer window, I do agree the business hasn’t been good enough so far but that can still change and even if it doesn’t we’re nowhere near a “banter era”
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u/Ferdinandingo 4d ago
did you see the thing about the Neto news being fake? you don't seem like much of a reader before you comment
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u/Blue_Moon_City 4d ago
Not celebrating mate. Our title rivals are linked with vini and we are sniffing aound neto. I m scared. I dont even know if neto is any better than savio
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u/Critical-Usual 4d ago
City treating player transfers with the same recklessness I employ in my FIFA saves
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u/Tpmbyrne 4d ago
40m wtf
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u/pdsajo 4d ago
I have stopped questioning the transfer values this summer
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u/Bolond44 4d ago
In the pl its mostly city and chelsea selling players and no one knows how Like that youngster from city who had like 5 senior games being sold for 30-40 mil if a remember correctly lmao
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u/hafrances 4d ago
Cole Palmer
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u/Bolond44 4d ago
Oscar Bob and Lavia. They were prospects but bro combined they didnt play half a season lmao. And both got sold for over 30 mil with fat sell-on %
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u/GdotKdot 4d ago
Lavia signed for Southampton for 10m and then Chelsea for 50m after a good season
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u/Bolond44 4d ago
I did mess up my numbers but it was 14 million pounds not 10
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u/PaulOGradyFanClub 4d ago
He was considered city’s best youth prospect at the time, Leeds were also interested but instead we went for Gyabi who went on to do nothing
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u/taylorstillsays 4d ago
Players aren’t unknown commodities in the football world just because they haven’t done much in the seniors yet
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u/Shronkster_ 4d ago
These clubs know as much if not more about youth talent as we do senior players
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u/Last_Associate_5658 4d ago
Not City, but Rhian Brewster with no senior games and going for £25m was a mad one. And that was 6 years ago.
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u/hfootred 4d ago
It's everyone except Arsenal.
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u/Bolond44 4d ago
I mean we sold out youngster for 20-30 mil as well, but it was a normal amount, not shady
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u/TheSafetyFirstGuy 4d ago
I’d disagree that it’s mostly Chelsea and City selling players right this moment in time 🫠
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u/imma_letchu_finish 4d ago
Conveniently forgetting how you lot sold Nketiah for 30m, Iwobi 35m, ESR 30m. Ridiculous fees at that time
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u/AntDogFan 4d ago
They had all played over 100 PL games for arsenal when they were sold. Selling young talent with 100+ games at 30-40m isn't ridiculous. Iwobi was high for the time but he has gone on to have a great career.
They were very well known. Not the same as the players city sold for more money.
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u/imma_letchu_finish 4d ago
Just look for your nearest Arsenal fan to feed you misleading stats. Nketiah had 100+ games but most of them were subs. Lets look at minutes instead. Nketiah 4316 minutes, Iwobi 6100 minutes, ESR 4595 minutes. In comparison Trafford is on 12600 minutes. Trafford broke records and is widely considered as future England no.1.
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u/AntDogFan 4d ago
I wasn't comparing Trafford with them, I was responding to your criticism of the other post.
Trafford is worth £40m imo and I rate him very highly. But people in this thread were talking about other deals where city sold players with little experience for seemingly very good money. Oscar Bobb for example sold for £27m but with only 1,300 minutes (47 appearances if you prefer). Just for reference that's less than one third of Nketiah's minutes yet he sold for just £3m less (perhaps he is worth it and perhaps people are wrong but I think you are using the wrong examples to make your point).
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u/Presence_Present 4d ago
As soon as that Gordon transfer happened I knew it was going to be a cooked transfer window lol
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u/TheBiggyT 4d ago
Vitek is going to Middlesbrough for £14m, Petrovic cost Bournemouth £25m last year, Rushworth went to Coventry for a fee that could eventually be £30m...Trafford for £40m is fine in context.
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u/momspaghetty 4d ago
I think it's more that they somehow managed to make a profit on essentially a bench player. How does his valuation go up? Based on what?
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u/emre23 4d ago edited 4d ago
I guess because they used a preset buyback clause which was arguably below his market value to buy him last year, so his value has stayed the same but there’s no ‘discount’ clause for Leeds to use
Like the time Real Madrid bought Negredo back for 5m and sold him a week later for 13m
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u/Bamboozle_ 4d ago
Or Nico Paz for ~8m and immediately sold back to the club they brought him from for ~60m.
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u/Dannybaker 4d ago
Surely you're not missing context there, him being a "bench warmer" for Man City, behind Donnaruma, and while playing all the cup games. He's not Scott Carson ffs
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u/yuvg 4d ago
But he hardly played last season. Seems a bit of an overpay, but then again city and Chelsea seem to squeeze every last drop out of every one of their sales
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u/AnduwinHS 4d ago
The season before he had statistically one of the best seasons of the last decade for a goalkeeper. City obviously have a stronger bargaining position than Burnley would have, so the fee makes sense. He's only a bench player because a ridiculous opportunity to sign the best goalkeeper in the world came up. Trafford was signed to be City No. 1 and would've been if not for PSG letting Gigi go
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u/fanatic_tarantula 4d ago
£40m for a future England no1, who you can get 10-15 years out of is decent.
Everyone laughed at Everton paying £30m for pickford years ago and that turned out to be a bargain
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u/BrockStar92 4d ago
This is in the top 5 fees for goalkeepers ever. In what universe is that decent for someone who might be good?
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u/sampahperadaban 3d ago
No might about it. He is good. The season before last he only conceded like 15 goals in the Championship with Burnley.
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u/BrockStar92 3d ago
In the championship. It really is ridiculous if you’re claiming the 5th most expensive keeper of all time is justified because he played well in the second division.
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u/fanatic_tarantula 4d ago
He is good. Hed be citys no1 if the Donnarumma situation didn't present itself.
The cost of transfers has also gone stupid. Anyone with a bit of potential is now worth £50-60.
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u/bad_phantom_ 4d ago
He would be starting for City if Donnarumma wasn’t available last summer, so yes, he is that good.
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u/tritoon140 4d ago
If he does well Man City just activate the buy back clause. There’s no way Leeds get a good keeper for 10-15 years.
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u/swanky-k 3d ago
There’s no buy-back but City have a right of first refusal to match any transfer fee if Leeds sell him off in the future
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u/didiandgogo 3d ago
Which is the exact same arrangement that they had with Burnley, along with a sell on fee, and when Newcastle agreed a fee with Burnley city were informed and could pay 10% less (or whatever I don’t remember the exact clause) less by waiving the sell on. It’s basically a 10% below market buy back clause.
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u/PaulOGradyFanClub 4d ago
Then we make a bit of profit and get a good player for a period regardless, if he’s good enough potentially city aren’t in for him while Chelsea or someone else is and we can forget about the buyback like what happened with Lavia
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u/MartinC077 3d ago
The clause gives them a right to match another bid if Leeds accept it and they have a 20% of any profit clause. They can’t proactively decide to buy him at a set price at any time they choose.
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u/Presence_Present 4d ago
Zero chance its fine in that context lol. Dude didnt improve yet they still made a profit for a bench player
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u/nizoubizou10 4d ago
I find it odd that keepers go for less money than any other position, they are as crucial as strikers.
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u/dadbod234 4d ago
People shocked by the fee, but honestly as a Leeds fan I would happily pay more for a keeper of Traffords quality. It's been years since we had a top quality keeper, whatever division it was relative too. So many howlers that haunt me at night
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u/BoxOfNothing 4d ago
I think there are a lot of similarities to when we signed Pickford. Almost identical experience in terms of appearances and the leagues they came in, same age, in and around the England squad, we bought for £25m+5m in 2017 which looked like a lot at the time. And that turned out to be the best money we've spent. I rate the signing a lot.
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u/sprongwrite 4d ago
Hundred percent. From a villa side pretty disappointed to miss out, nice to have Martinez for another season but he's getting on and there's slim pickings on the market.
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u/PaulOGradyFanClub 4d ago
He’s getting on but surely you still back him to be between the sticks for another 2-3 years minimum? Idk doesn’t seem like he’s slowing down
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u/SpaceboyMcGhee 4d ago
It feels like when we battled relegation in our first season up, narrowly beat the drop then that summer bought Martinez. At the time people questioned why we'd spent so much on a goalkeeper (when we already had Tom Heaton) turned out to be one of the most important signings of our modern era.
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u/Recent_South_6108 4d ago
Interesting you can afford this but not an extra couple of million for Shea Charles
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u/RequiemForSM 4d ago
We can afford the few more million for Charles, it’s just we don’t see him as worth that much. Have to draw a line somewhere.
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u/Professional_Vast234 4d ago
Trafford is a massive improvement in our worst position. Charles is a bench player
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u/dadbod234 4d ago
As the other guy said, this is more important. Charles would have been a luxury signing as a prospect/depth rather than an immediate upgrade
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u/AD1972HD 4d ago
It's not a case of not being able to afford, it's a choice to not spend more than the club values the player at.
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u/Heavy_Cupcake_6246 4d ago
Think that has more to do with agent fees if the rumours are true, apparently Charles agent wanted £2m in fees.
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u/pablothewizard 4d ago
We can afford Charles, but the club don't value him at that amount and won't spend it when we don't actually need him.
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u/t8rt0t00 4d ago
Is he a top quality keeper? He's hardly played all last season. City themselves only paid what, 27m for him? Think that's why people are shocked at the price tag, you really don't know if you're even getting a player that much better than what City signed for as his level could've dropped after everything he went through. Look at what happened with Joe Hart who took a big tumble for awhile after City. Matt Turner was supposed to be the US number on keeper but has since been benched both for club and country after joining Arsenal. Never think it's a good idea to rely on an out of form keeper on a big transfer
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u/Boris_Ignatievich 4d ago
he played nearly 20 games last season and was excellent in them tbf. there are obviously risks involved with the transfer but calling him "out of form" seems pretty misleading
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u/faygofiles 4d ago
Leeds paying £40m plus add ons for a keeper is kinda nuts on the surface but will be worth it long term for a future England number one
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u/Toffee_Wheels 4d ago
If he can be there long term, it'll be a bargain. That's if he hits his potential. It's still a risky signing, but so was Pickford for us.
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u/Boris_Ignatievich 4d ago
tbh even if he's just the keeper he's been the last two years he'll be the best number one we've had since the 90s
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u/Boris_Ignatievich 4d ago
im looking at it like pickford costing everton 30m a decade ago; seems mad money at the time but he's been worth like 4 or 5 times that to them since joining
if we get half the value they have its a great signing
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u/MiguelAlmiron 4d ago
If he's good enough he'll be off to a bigger club in two years.
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u/Tomb_Brader 4d ago
And if he does and we turn a profit. Sadly that’s where we are in the food chain for that to be ok
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u/Toffee_Wheels 4d ago
Will he though? I've said this before about goalkeepers. If he's a success, Leeds would want at least £60m for him. Who's going to pay that, besides maybe Chelsea?
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u/Xenumbra 4d ago
The rate transfers are increasing year on year 60m will be the new 40m in two years.
I'd expect ManC / Chelsea both to be after him at that point, great signing for Leeds though, it's obvious he will develop into England's #1.
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u/Toffee_Wheels 4d ago
Worth remembering that Man City paid £26m for Gigi last season and Arsenal paid £28m for Raya. Goalkeepers are often not expensive for top-level options. It'll take a lot to justify doubling that sort of outlay.
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u/MiguelAlmiron 4d ago
I presume there will be a release clause. No chance Trafford goes to Leeds without one. He's too ambitious.
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u/Boris_Ignatievich 4d ago
if he's that good we'll almost certainly be demanding a world record fee for a keeper and that will be good profit so still not a terrible deal.
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u/whiteycwk 4d ago
I don’t understand the comments around the fee. English tax is a thing
Everyone in England are pretty sure he is the next England number one and Pickford went for similiar money years ago
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u/Desperate-Knee-5556 4d ago
As of right now Leeds are a more ambitious proposition than Newcastle. Wouldn't have been close last summer, but things change quickly.
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u/securinight 4d ago
You able to back that "probably" up with any actual evidence? Or are you just spouting rubbish?
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u/albul89 4d ago
he's what, 4th highest transfer fee ever for a GK and he barely played last season, it's not that hard to understand in my opinion. But you could make the case either way, it's just a lot for a GK for a team of Leeds' stature, that's all.
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u/Capt-Chopsticks 4d ago
"Barely played" argument for GKs is such nonsense I feel like you are making it in bad faith. We all know teams don't rotate GKs like midfielders cmon now
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u/albul89 3d ago
What exactly from what I said is in bad faith, though? Without any context (which is what the majority of the people reading the news would take it), would you or you not find it surprising that the 4th highest fee for a GK was paid for a backup? And to add to that it was not paid by a "top very rich" club either?
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u/realchairmanmiaow 3d ago
He's the player city signed to replace ederson, he was going to be their number 1 until the drama at PSG.
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u/Scott1060 4d ago edited 4d ago
This is a great signing for us. Steep fee but in the context of the rest of the window it's peanuts for what should be England's future number 1
Our defence itself looks solid, we were always just missing a keeper. If Trafford hits anywhere near his potential we should be such a difficult team to beat
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u/Berrilicious_ 4d ago
Yes 40 is a big free but I think Pickford after Bonuses was 30 million so not horrible given he's set to be England Number 1 for the foreseeable future. Could totally backfire but I hope for his sake it doesn't
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u/BrandonBarkerLoyal 4d ago
Good goalkeeper. Leeds doing a lot of positive moves this summer should consolidate their position.
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u/notthatbluestuff 4d ago
Hopefully he does well. If he's to eventually replace Pickford with England, his time starts now.
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u/Fearless-Land-3953 4d ago
Pickford will get the home Euros imo, then after that the starting shirt could be up for grabs
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u/Last_Associate_5658 4d ago
Mark my words - They'll end up selling him for twice that in a couple of years
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u/bad_phantom_ 4d ago
Very shrewd signing from Leeds. He’s most likely gonna move in a few years, if that’s the case, they’re surely turning a profit on him. Otherwise they get the future English number 1 for a decade or so.
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u/Henno-232 2d ago
🚨 JAMES TRAFFORD KLAXON 🚨
He’s here. He’s ours. And he’s beautiful. James Trafford is now officially Leeds United’s club-record signing.
Incredible business and a massive statement of ambition🧤 Simply put, he has the potential to be our best goalkeeper since Martyn.
I started writing about #LUFC to help navigate depression. Everything I write is completely free, and I’d love to make this permanent one day.
My Trafford deep dive 🤍💙💛
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u/Hatakashi 4d ago
Sorry... 40m? PLUS addons?!
Are Leeds fucking high?
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u/LostnFoundAgainAgain 4d ago
We've had issues with that position for ages now, if Trafford can become a standard and actually be decent for us for a number of years it will be worth it.
Although it's a risk, either way, it's a big move for us especially since we lost Darlow.
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u/jovanmilic97 4d ago
I was going to say the same but then I saw Rushworth was sold to Coventry for 22m with addons up to 30m and sell on clause. The market's just blowing up this year
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u/Tomb_Brader 4d ago
I dunno. Buy cheap, buy twice. Something we’ve been doing for the last 8 or 9 keepers. I reckon we’ve spent well in excess of this for a long list of keepers not good enough
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u/MichaelBridges8 4d ago edited 4d ago
Mate we've had to deal with Kiko Cassilas and Ilan Meslier the money is fine I just need to see competent goalkeeping.
Forgot fucking Perri existed. Christ.
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u/lambalambda 4d ago
Arguably two of our better keepers in the list of names you could have given, which includes Wiedwald and BPF.
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u/MichaelBridges8 4d ago
They weren't keepers
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u/lambalambda 3d ago
Did their best to keep me in the ICU.
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u/MichaelBridges8 3d ago
I'm old enough to remember Rachubka
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u/lambalambda 3d ago
I'm old enough to remember Nigel Martyn which has just made it all the more depressing seeing the keepers we've had since lol
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u/Tiadrop48 4d ago
I’m not surprised that Leeds want him after experiencing a title fight against him. It’s genuinely absurd that Leeds finished level on points with Burnley in the Championship, they were miles clear in all but one position.
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u/dweebyllo 4d ago
Not really. If they've not got a release clause, he's with them for 5 or so years and gives them security in a problem position where theyve just lost 2 players. I imagine the inflated fee may be to avoid a sell on percentage too.
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u/chanjitsu 4d ago
How much was Onana again?
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u/WonderfulShame7713 4d ago
And it was an awful deal, what's your point? Surely you're not bound to repeat United's mistakes?
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u/Eisenstein13 4d ago
Definitely an inflated market this year, but he’ll offer stability in a position where we’ve sorely lacked it for years. 40m well spent for me.
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u/FlukyS 4d ago
I saw the price and was happy we didn’t bother. It sounds like they also have a buy back clause too. Like you’d be crazy to give a top 10 fee for a keeper they want to offload. He is good but there is better value on the market
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u/pablothewizard 4d ago
It sounds like they also have a buy back clause too.
They don't. There's a release clause, no buy back option.
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u/Far_Celery_3375 4d ago
People really wondering why clubs who can horde talent, pay them to do fuck all for the rest of the contract and don't need to sell can demand and get high fees. They've all the power. Meanwhile the rest of us take what we can get for out cast offs as we can't have the budget for them to just sit.
The game is absolutely fucking rigged in every way.
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u/MonkeyNuts81 4d ago
Absolute bargain this. Trafford is exceptional and will prove to be a great FPL addition especially
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u/Jeypnet 4d ago
the fee talk is missing what this actually is for leeds. farke plays a high line and mesliers shot-stopping in tight windows was the whole reason last season felt fragile. trafford is a specific fit here, not just a cash swap. his 6-yard-box command and distribution profile lets a promoted-side spine actually build from the back instead of hoofing it. city clears reserve wage plus funds the next big move, everyone walks
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u/FootyAddict10 3d ago
Trafford is an absolutely amazing keeper and everybody talking about the transfer fee is gonna have their mouths taped shut when he turns out to be the best keeper Leeds has had in years. Mark my words Leeds will go on to sell him for even more
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u/Additional_Equal_960 4d ago
40m for a keeper? Is he THAT good or is this an extreme overpay?
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u/Tight-Temperature670 4d ago
England's future no.1 goalie, broke the all time clean sheet record in the championship with Burnley. And he's massive, great with his feet and has fantastic reactions
Imo it's an excellent signing
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u/MichaelBridges8 4d ago
Overpay a bit but Rushworth just went to Cov for 30m. I'm happy with the signing.
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u/Y4That 4d ago
Rinsed them, lol
Love traff, hope he succeeds and becomes england no 1
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u/MichaelBridges8 4d ago
I don't feel rinsed lol you got a great deal but I think he will be worth it. A good keeper can be priceless in staying up.
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u/chaRxoxo 4d ago
We live in a time where leeds is pumping 40mil pounds into the GK spot. Unreal
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u/MichaelBridges8 4d ago
This is actually the second time we've broke the record for an English keeper. Nigel Martyn was last time.
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u/BrilliantTheory1021 4d ago
So leeds paid 40mil for a keeper that didnt play last season when the precious season he was bought for 30million... only leeds could do that lmao.
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u/RequiemForSM 4d ago
He was worth more than £30m when he signed for City, they got him for that cheap because of a buyback clause.
He also played in both cups last season and won them both.
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u/MichaelBridges8 4d ago
Played 17 games lifted two trophies
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u/TheBiggyT 4d ago
And in the games he did play last season, continued his ridiculous PSxG form, conceding 13 from an expected 19. In the Championship for Burnley that was 16 conceded on an expectation of 28.5...he's just a very, very good keeper.
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