James Trafford was one of Manchester City's heroes in their EFL Cup win this season. The goalkeeper played in all six games, including the 2-0 win over Arsenal in the final. He also became a senior England international after playing 90 minutes in the Three Lions' 1-1 draw with Uruguay at Wembley Stadium last April.
These are notable highlights in what has been a very frustrating season for Trafford. In the last campaign, he kept a record-breaking 29 clean sheets in 45 Championship games for Burnley. This led to a transfer back to City.
Trafford played in City's opening three Premier League games: a 4-0 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers, a 2-0 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur, and a 2-1 loss to Brighton. He made a bad error playing out from the back in the Tottenham game, which led to João Palhinha scoring.
The keeper's time as being City's number one came to an end when they signed Gianluigi Donnarumma from Paris Saint-Germain. The Italian was fresh off winning the Champions League with PSG, and Trafford was relegated to the bench. In total, Trafford has played just 14 times for City this season.
Where could James Trafford go to ensure regular game time?
Trafford faces an eventful summer; he should be part of Thomas Tuchel's roster for the World Cup, and a transfer from City beckons. TEAMtalk has reported that "Tottenham Hotspur are pushing to sign Manchester City goalkeeper James Trafford this summer."
Spurs need a new keeper as Guglielmo Vicario is inconsistent and injury-prone, whilst Antonín Kinsky's confidence took a knock after being substituted after 17 minutes in a 5-2 defeat to Atletico Madrid in the Champions League. Kinsky had played badly and already conceded three goals at this point. However, it was still a very brutal decision from Spurs' then-manager Igor Tudor.
It is an uncertain time for Tottenham as they are at risk of relegation from the Premier League. TEAMtalk added that "there is a belief that Trafford would be open to the move even if Spurs are relegated to the Championship, a stance that speaks volumes about his ambition and focus on development."
Trafford has already proved himself in English soccer's second tier whilst at Burnley. It would be huge of Spurs were to be relegated. However, they would be expected to bounce straight back up. The Championship is still a very good division, and Spurs are still a big club. What is most important is that Trafford starts playing regularly again after missing out on so mich soccer this season.