Pep Guardiola admits James Trafford is stuck in 'special situation' as Man City boss claims £31m backup goalkeeper will become England's No.1

City committed up to £31 million ($41m) during the summer to re-sign Trafford from Burnley, having let him go for a fraction of that price in 2023 without making a first-team appearance. But after a patchy start to the season, including a high profile error in the Premier League defeat to Tottenham Hotspur, Trafford lost his place to fellow new arrival Gianluigi Donnarumma, whose availability on the market at all had been unexpected given his world class status. City remarkably had to pay less money for the Italian, around £26m ($34.5m), who quickly went on to land his second career Yashin Trophy.

Guardiola has chosen to fight Trafford's corner, defending him in public and insisting City are very happy with him. The Spanish coach has also implied there could be opportunities for rotation in goal, with the club hoping to compete on four fronts this season: Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup, Carabao Cup. Chances for Trafford may come in the latter two competitions, and if Donnarumma suffers an injury or gets suspended at any point.

"The keeper is a special situation because the keeper plays, normally one, and the second one doesn't. All I can say is we are delighted with his behaviour in training," Guardiola said of Trafford ahead of City facing Swansea in the Carabao Cup fourth round this week. "One of the reasons why we want to go through in this competition is because they all have to be ready in case we need in the Premier League and the Champions League."

It's no pressure, but Guardiola believes Trafford has the ability to be a starting goalkeeper for England. He is uncapped by the senior side for now, having made 34 appearances across various age-restricted England teams from Under-17 level through to Under-21. Having been cut from the provisional Euro 2024 list, he has also been selected for every senior England squad for the past year, remaining an unused substitute for each game.

"We have an incredible keeper. For England, sooner or later, he will be the one," Guardiola predicted. "I am pretty sure Gigi learns from James and James learns from Gigi. The goalkeepers are always connected."

If Trafford wants to command regular minutes for either club or country, he has a monumental job on his hands. Donnarumma is arguably the best goalkeeper in the world right now, having only been improving ever since becoming AC Milan's No.1 from the age of 16 a decade ago. He has two Yashin Trophies to his name under the Ballon d'Or banner and is nailed on favourite to collect a career first Best FIFA Men's Goalkeeper award in the coming weeks. As much as PSG wanted to move on and play with a different focus, they likely wouldn’t have won the Champions League last season without him.

England's Jordan Pickford is also a mountain to try and move. The Everton stopper has never enjoyed much success during a club career that has often seen him fighting at the wrong end of the Premier League table, but he is easily England's best goalkeeper of the 21st century and also one of the national team’s all-time greats, given his achievements in the role. He's played in two European Championship finals and currently presides over a record of nine consecutive clean sheets.

Moving clubs for 23-year-old Trafford, even so soon after returning 'home', might be the only real solution for him to make good on the potential Guardiola is convinced of.