Newcastle United fans on social media are not happy following a recent update on James Trafford.
Newcastle United have been interested in Trafford for over a year and yet he remains a Burnley goalkeeper for now.
Indeed, Burnley rejected Newcastle’s £26million bid for Trafford, with the Turf Moor outfit said to be holding for a fee closer to £40million. At that price, the 22-year-old would instantly become the most expensive British goalkeeper of all time.
Trafford has agreed personal terms with Newcastle but that has done little to force the move. Burnley are in a stronger financial position following their promotion to the Premier League and they are proving to be tough negotiators.
Sadly for Newcastle, Fabrizio Romano has confirmed that Manchester City are interested in Trafford. Pep Guardiola’s side have a buy-back clause too after selling him to the Clarets in 2023.
The news has not gone down well on social media.
Newcastle United fans unhappy as Man City look to hijack James Trafford transfer news
Toon supporters took to X (formerly Twitter) to vent their frustration.
It has been a disappointing transfer window thus far. While the signing of Anthony Elanga is undoubtedly a positive for Eddie Howe, Newcastle have missed out on a number of other targets.
Having tracked Trafford for what feels like an age, losing out on him at this stage would be the latest setback.
“If Trafford does go to City then we have wasted over a year chasing him. We are failing at transfers, no other way to look at it. Is not just unlucky at this point, other clubs are much better at doing deals than us. Elanga is good but not enough,” said another fan.
One supporter said: “It’s unforgivable by the way if City come and snatch up James Trafford. We’ve had personals agreed with him for over a year now. We need give Burnley closer to what they want.”
“We are embarrassing for not completing the Trafford deal. 1 signing in 4 windows this will be. PIF aren’t what they supposed to be,” was another complaint.
James Trafford drops major transfer hint amid Newcastle United talks
Trafford isn’t training with the rest of the Burnley squad, dropping that hint on social media earlier this week by posting an image of himself doing gym work alone.
That would suggest the Clarets are preparing for an exit. Still, City obviously have the advantage due to the clause, so Newcastle could be up against it.
This has been a protracted saga and the fact it might not come to a positive conclusion perhaps sums up Newcastle’s window thus far.
For whatever reason, they just cannot get many deals over the line. That might just be par for the course when it comes to trying to sign top players courted by other elite clubs, but it’s worrying all the same.
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