Trafford: Not playing for Manchester City 'horrendous' before Leeds move
James Trafford said not playing for Manchester City last season was "horrendous" before he moved to Leeds United in the summer to seek first-team football. He made the remarks on Football Daily's The Football Interview.
Trafford re-signed for City in July 2025, two years after leaving the club to join Championship side Burnley. Less than six weeks after his return, Italy international Gianluigi Donnarumma arrived from Paris St-Germain; the 27-year-old, who helped the French club win the Champions League weeks earlier, immediately became City's first-choice goalkeeper. After starting the first three matches of the campaign, Trafford made just one further Premier League start in the 35 games that followed Donnarumma's arrival.
Reflecting on the personal impact of limited playing time, Trafford said: "What a horrendous, horrendous feeling. Not playing." He described how he coped by talking to family and friends: "You are ringing a lot of people and just venting. Like most people, you have a [bad] day at work and you ring someone up. I ring my dad, I ring my mum, I ring my missus, I ring my mates. I like ringing my mates and we can just have a good talk about it all. It's quite funny."
Despite his scarcity of appearances, Trafford started both the League Cup and FA Cup finals at Wembley and was part of the sides that won those trophies. On the season he said: "Going into any season, I always have the highest of hopes and always the belief that it will go the best way it could," and added: "Unfortunately, we didn't win all four trophies. It didn't go how I expected it to go, but it happens. In the moment, I just tried to make the best of it as I could. Looking back, I don't think it was a disappointing season in the end because I learned so much, I improved so much and I won two trophies in one year. There were moments when I was very down, regretting things and feeling disappointed, but looking back, I'm very thankful for the experience. What an incredible year."
Trafford was part of England's squad for the 2026 World Cup but did not get game time; he described being with Thomas Tuchel's group as an "incredible experience". On his role in the squad he said: "I didn't play, but it is what it is. I didn't expect to play when I got called up. I knew what my role was, but you just take as much experience as possible, learn from it and keep trying to win the day, because the more days you win, the better position you're in."
After returning from the World Cup, Trafford left City to join Leeds United in a deal worth up to £45m, a record for a British goalkeeper. Since arriving at Elland Road he has started all nine of Leeds' Premier League matches this season, keeping three clean sheets; only Brighton (seven) and Arsenal (five) have conceded fewer goals than Daniel Farke's side (eight). His form has helped Leeds sit 12th in the table before this weekend's fixtures, two points off the European places, and he said of the club: "I just think it's an incredible club...It's just somewhere that's only going and getting better. We'd love to get back into Europe. I think every club you ask would like to get into Europe, so the main goal is just to keep on improving."
Trafford, a former Bolton Wanderers and Accrington Stanley loanee, has relished the opportunity for regular Premier League football since his move to Leeds. He has emphasised the positive aspects of playing week-to-week after a season on the fringes at City.
Next time around Trafford hopes to be England's starting goalkeeper and said he believes that "if he continues his impressive performances with Leeds, that ambition is entirely achievable." He added: "It's my aim and it's something I've always dreamed of."
