28 May 2026 11:28:46
Leeds United are in formal talks with Manchester City goalkeeper James Trafford, and have been for the past couple weeks.

1.) 28 May 2026
28 May 2026 12:25:08
Be flabbergasted.
It won't happen, thankfully.

As we need to spend our transfer budget on goalscoring players, not blow a large wedge of it on expensive gks.

Citeh spent around £30 million transfer fee getting Trafford from Burnley, and they would want that, or probably even more.



Give Darlow a new contract as number 1.

Perri as our number 2 (unless a club comes in with same transfer fee we paid, which is unlikely imo) .

2.) 28 May 2026
28 May 2026 12:41:01
Absolutely agree, Baz. £30 m on Trafford compared to a better contract for Darlow, when that would more than buy Elliot or induce Wilson to come, or both.

3.) 28 May 2026
28 May 2026 13:30:58
Trafford is absolute miles better than Darlow and is easily worth the money. The club would be idiots to go into the season with Darlow starting - a 35-year-old career backup.

4.) 28 May 2026
28 May 2026 13:56:06
Spicy Dave, so Darlow has had a good season, has he not?

If we had an unlimited transfer budget, then sure, spend £30 million plus on a gk.. but we don't.

Much more pressing priorities. Player upgrades needed elsewhere, up top and in midfield.

5.) 28 May 2026
28 May 2026 14:09:51
There's absolutely no way we are getting Trafford unless it's a loan deal.

6.) 28 May 2026
28 May 2026 14:24:55
I've said, and agree, that whilst we could stand to improve the goalkeeping situation, absolutely, it's not near the top of the urgency list. I'd be content to go with a Darlow/Perri as a lower/mid table pairing. Perri deservedly lost the No.1 jersey, but is good enough to keep Darlow honest if his form markedly drops beyond the odd error.

Crucially, the defense trust Darlow. You can see it with Rodon, Ampadu, Bijol, etc. They know he has it. Not like Meslier, and initially Perri, there were some doubts. Perri looks like an ideal cup keeper (based on level and penalty ability, if not wage) for now, and biding his time.

If the right deal for Trafford came along, I'd 100% jump at it. I can't see it. I can see Newcastle looking to upgrade on Pope/Ramsdale with Trafford, as they so nearly did last summer.

30m makes sense for them. Not for us. We could then have the pick of Ramsdale or Pope if we really wanted them. I wouldn't take Pope.

Ramsdale could be a maybe, if Southampton need to sell a further year removed from optimal parachute payments. I think Newcastle's option was £25m (what Southampton had paid Arsenal) . They can't afford his wages. If this all played out, I might entertain £15m (maybe to £17.5m with escalators) or another opportunistic loan. A year of largely benchwarming means they can't expect his value to have held. They'll want more, in which case I'd be out.

If we did that, we'd have to fail to retain Darlow or sell Perri (the preferred option) .