Manchester City are facing a potential goalkeeping crisis due to two of their stoppers—including £31 million ($40.9 million) summer signing James Trafford—eyeing a January departure from the club.
City spent big money on Trafford as recently as July, agreeing a deal with Burnley that made the former England Under-21 star the most expensive British goalkeeper ever, surpassing the £30 million transfer that took Jordan Pickford from Sunderland to Everton in 2017.
A quirk of the Trafford deal actually saw City get £4 million back due to the sell-on fee inserted into the transfer agreement when the club had previously sold him to Burnley in 2023.
Trafford began 2025–26 as Pep Guardiola’s starter in goal, getting the nod ahead of Ederson. But shaky early performances, including in a chastening defeat to Tottenham Hotspur left fans uneasy. Further developments then saw Paris Saint-Germain surprisingly decide to move on from Gianluigi Donnarumma, with City taking the opportunity to land the Italian on Deadline Day.
The 2025 Yashin Trophy winner was actually slightly cheaper than Trafford, while Ederson left for Fenerbahçe as part of the process to create the space for him.
Donnarumma has started every Premier League game since and it has left Trafford in a difficult and arguably humiliating position, signed and replaced within the space of a single transfer window. His only subsequent appearances have been in the Carabao Cup and a 2–0 loss to Bayer Leverkusen.
The Daily Mail reports that Trafford is now looking at the January window with a view to leaving, having been told when he arrived that he would be No. 1. It was hoped that he might be able to use the move to City to challenge Pickford for England’s starting berth going into the 2026 World Cup. Instead, his sudden relegation to a backup role at club level could see Trafford miss out altogether.
Newcastle United might be an option for him, after the interested Magpies were beaten to his signature by City during the summer. Eddie Howe’s team ended up taking Aaron Ramsdale on loan from Southampton, but it was veteran Nick Pope who held on to No. 1 status.
Trafford isn’t the only goalkeeper considering his future. The Mail adds that Stefan Ortega, formerly the semi-regularly seen reserve to Ederson, also has intentions to leave. The German, who made 56 appearances in three seasons prior to 2025–26, has been relegated to third choice and hasn’t even been selected on the bench since the opening day of the Premier League campaign in August.
How Donnarumma Could Make Unwanted Premier League History
Goalkeeper getting yellow cards is relatively rare, but Donnarumma is changing that in his first year in England. The Italian has remarkably already been cautioned four times in just 10 Premier League appearances, putting him another booking away from a one-game suspension.
Worryingly when it comes to his temperament, all four yellow cards could have been avoided, with three of them dished out for dissent and the other given for timewasting.
No other goalkeeper has ever served a one-game suspension for cumulative yellow cards under the in the Premier League. Current rules result in the counter resetting at the halfway stage of the season following the 19th gameweek, meaning those other goalkeepers—and there have been 12 of them over the years—who have eventually accrued five yellow cards over a season escaped a ban.
Donnarumma’s current rate of getting a yellow card is an average of every 2.5 games. To avoid setting this unwanted record, he has to survive six more without another one—City face Fulham, Sunderland, Crystal Palace, West Ham United, Nottingham Forest and Sunderland again before the accumulation resets after the game against the latter on Jan. 1.
“He is adult enough [not to get booked again],” Guardiola said this week, expressing confidence that the issue of Donnarumma’s conduct on the pitch can be addressed and dialled back. “For sure, we will step-by-step understand things in the league and new behaviours.”
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Frustrated Man City Summer Signing Looking Towards January Exit—Report.
