Report: Liverpool eyeing surprise swoop for wantaway Man City ace as Reds ‘declare interest’

Liverpool are reportedly prominent among the clubs vying to sign one player who could plausibly leave Manchester City in the near future.

James Trafford joined Pep Guardiola’s side from Burnley last summer and looked set to hold down a regular starting role at the Etihad Stadium, only to be relegated to second choice after the acquisition of Gianluigi Donnarumma a month later.

On Tuesday, Sky Germany reporter Florian Plettenberg claimed (via X) that the 23-year-old is open to leaving the Cityzens after only one season in search of more frequent game-time, although the club’s hierarchy would prefer to keep him.

Liverpool ‘declare interest’ in James Trafford swoop

According to a report for GOAL on Wednesday afternoon, Liverpool and Chelsea are among the clubs to ‘declare interest’ in signing the goalkeeper, who ‘has not hidden his desire to leave his boyhood club’ in search of becoming first-choice elsewhere.

Tottenham Hotspur, Newcastle and Aston Villa are also claimed to have expressed an interest in Trafford, although the north London club ‘would almost certainly be ruled out’ of the running if they’re relegated from the Premier League in the coming weeks.

Would Trafford be assured of regular minutes at Liverpool?

Liverpool have already brought in Giorgi Mamardashvili as the intended long-term successor to Alisson Becker, who could plausibly depart at the end of his contract next year, so the Man City stopper mightn’t be guaranteed to go straight into the Reds’ starting XI if he were to join the Merseysiders.

However, the 23-year-old has had a better return than the Georgian in terms of goals conceded and clean sheets this season, with both goalkeepers confined to sporadic game-time as second choice at their respective clubs.

Trafford set the record for the most consecutive clean sheets in the history of the English second tier last season with 12 in a row for Burnley, who conceded a miserly nine goals after 33 Championship games. Even allowing for it being outside the top flight, those are extraordinary numbers.

He’s also proven that he can thrive on the big occasion, pulling off several fine saves in Man City’s Carabao Cup final win over Arsenal at Wembley last month, and he was profoundly unlucky with the timing of Donnarumma’s arrival so soon after he’d moved to the Etihad from Turf Moor.

He’d appear to be more than capable of thriving at Liverpool, although he’d naturally require assurances that he’d be the unanimous first choice at Anfield, which is unlikely to happen with Alisson around and would also be unfair on Mamardashvili, who’s performed better than the above figures would suggest.

Nonetheless, it’ll be compelling to see what happens with Trafford this summer amid his uncertain future in Manchester.