Syndicated reporting provided by Stats Perform and reviewed by the SoccerNews editorial team.
Leeds United have signed goalkeeper James Trafford in a club-record transfer from Manchester City.
The deal is said to be worth £40m, surpassing the previous record of £35.5m paid to Hoffenheim for Georginio Rutter in January 2023.
The fee is also a record for an English goalkeeper, with Trafford signing a five-year deal through to June 2031.
Trafford joined City last summer but struggled to get regular game time when Gianluigi Donnarumma followed him through the door shortly after.
Welcome to Leeds, James! pic.twitter.com/Lps89bMTiT
— Leeds United (@LUFC) August 6, 2026
The 23-year-old made 17 appearances in all competitions last term, playing through their EFL Cup and FA Cup-winning campaigns, with only four of those outings coming in the Premier League.
Trafford kept eight clean sheets for City, while conceding 13 goals from 53 shots on target faced. He made 40 saves in total.
Finding a new goalkeeper was a priority for Leeds, with Karl Darlow leaving and Lucas Perri falling out of favour under Daniel Farke in his debut season.
Perri was dropped by Farke, and Trafford’s arrival is expected to open the door for the Frenchman to join Torino on loan for 2026-27 with an option to buy.
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