James Trafford set to leave Manchester City this summer - Journalist

Newcastle United could finally land their man this summer as James Trafford could be available once again.

The Magpies have tried in the last two summer transfer windows to sign the young England goalkeeper, but to no avail.

Initially, Newcastle didn't have the funds to complete the move after forking out £20 million on Odysseas Vlachodimos as part of the quasi-swap deal that took Elliot Anderson to Nottingham Forest as both clubs made desperate moves to avoid sanctions for breaching PSR.

Then, last summer, after months of reports suggesting that the move for Trafford to Newcastle was all but nailed on, Manchester City activated their buy-back clause, and the Carlisle-born keeper opted to return from whence he came.

That ultimately proved to be a mistake, however, as shortly after his arrival, Man City went out and bought Gianluigi Donnarumma and installed him as first-choice, much to Trafford's chagrin.

James Trafford wants a move this summer

Speculation that Trafford would seek an exit from the Etihad has been rife all season, and now Sky Sports Germany's Florian Plettenberg has claimed on X that the 23-year-old will seek an exit in the summer to find regular first-team football.

Plettenberg doesn't mention Newcastle in his post, instead claiming Trafford could be a target for Brighton should Bart Verbruggen leave in the summer.

Newcastle have been linked with Verbruggen, so it looks as though the Magpies could still have plenty of say in where Trafford ends up, even if it's not at St James' Park.

Will Newcastle want to try for a third time?

It could be a case of fool me once for Newcastle, who could be a bit gunshy when it comes to James Trafford now, having seen two attempts fail already.

We hope that's not the case, though, as Trafford is one of the best young goalkeepers out there, and he's shown that this season when he has played for City. He's certainly better than what we have right now.

Bart Verbruggen is a top goalkeeper, too, so we wouldn't be opposed to signing the Dutchman either. Both are the same age and could be Newcastle's first choice for many years to come.