James Trafford is England's next No.1 in waiting - he MUST leave Man City this summer to start putting pressure on Jordan Pickford

The Carabao Cup final win over Arsenal was quickly dubbed 'The Nico O’Reilly final' as City’s homegrown, do-it-all player scored both goals in the 2-0 victory. But it was thanks to Trafford, who also grew up within City’s academy, that they were in that position in the first place.

Trafford made a triple-save to thwart Kai Havertz and Bukayo Saka in the opening minutes, and looked utterly unfazed in his first game at the national stadium.

And while Mikel Arteta was criticised by Jamie Carragher and others for picking potential liability Kepa Arrizabalaga over first-choice David Raya, Pep Guardiola’s decision to reward Trafford for his performances in the previous rounds and play him in the final paid off handsomely.

The goalkeeper expressed his gratitude to Guardiola, but he could not help but mention the elephant in the room: the fact that he was lured back to City from Burnley under the pretence that he would be their No.1, only for them to subsequently sign Gianluigi Donnarumma late in the transfer window and make him first choice instead.

"It means a lot to have Pep’s faith. It’s a testament to myself, I believe, through how I’ve acted in training and how I’ve acted in cup games," he said. "Every time I play, I give it my best shot and try to win. It hasn’t been easy at all [not playing regularly] – really, really tough at times – but I have an incredible set of people around me."

It is fair to say that when City moved to sign Trafford from Burnley last July, it came as a surprise given he had only one season of Premier League experience, and that ended with him losing his place to another City academy product, Arijanet Muric. Trafford's stellar season in the Championship with Burnley, where he kept a stunning 29 clean sheets in 45 games while only conceding 16 goals, did plently to rebuild his reputation, and Newcastle were keen to make him their No.1.

City, however, had inserted a clause into the deal they had agreed with Burnley when selling Trafford two years previously, which allowed them to match any bid for the player and put them at the front of the queue. It was not difficult to convince Trafford, who had effectively grown up at City after moving to the club aged 12 but never played for the first team, to re-join the Blues.

"I always dreamed that one day I would be able to come back to Manchester City," he said upon completing the £21 million move. "This is the place I call home. I am also so very excited and honoured to have been given the opportunity to work under Pep and with such a world-class group of players. I am still very young and hungry to keep learning and improving – and I know there is no better environment than Manchester City to help make me become the best goalkeeper I can be."

But it did not take long for Trafford to be reminded of just how competitive life at City is, and how demanding Guardiola can be. After starting the first three games of the season, during which he committed a howler in the 2-0 home defeat to Tottenham, he soon found himself competing with a European Championship and Champions League-winning goalkeeper in Donnarumma.

This was not the environment Trafford had expected to be in a few weeks earlier. After all, he had left City in the first place to get regular playing time, so he did not return two years later to be in the same position.

When he agreed to re-join City, Trafford must have thought that, at the very worst, he would be competing with Ederson for one year before taking the baton from the serial-winning Brazilian as City’s first-choice goalkeeper. Instead, he was clearly behind a player who had arrived one month later than him in the pecking order.

Trafford has not played a Premier League match since Donnarumma arrived, and has instead had to feed off appearances in the Carabao Cup and FA Cup, as well as one solitary game in the Champions League.

It is just as well that City have performed so well in the domestic cups, with Trafford having the chance to play at Wembley on three occasions if his side can overcome Southampton on Saturday. All being well, he will lift two trophies under the famous arch and collect a league winners medal - not bad for a first season.

And yet Trafford came back for more than just medals, and in an open exchange with reporters in February he made it clear that he had not expected Donnarumma to join him at the Etihad Stadium and take his place in goal.

"I didn't expect the situation to happen, but it happened, so just get on with it," he said. "It’s happened so I work very hard every day and see what happens, give it my best shot. It's football, it is what it is, you've got to keep grafting every day and the games that come, play as hard as you can. It's just another experience to add to my career and yeah, it has been good learning."

It sounded like Trafford had already made his mind up, even though he gave the textbook footballer response when asked if he was going to look for a new club in the summer: "Let’s take it a day at a time and try and work as hard as I can and whatever happens, happens. I’ve obviously got a contract, so I don't know what happens next season. I just know that I’ll just take it a day at a time and try and improve."

And even with the business end of the season arriving and with potentially two more Wembley trips to look forward to, Trafford still wants to move on so he can be guaranteed first-team football. There are no shortage of clubs looking to offer him that, either.

GOAL has learned that five Premier League clubs - Liverpool, Chelsea, Newcastle, Aston Villa and Tottenham - have expressed interest in signing Trafford, while the Daily Mail has claimed Juventus have made enquiries.

Having joined City on false pretences last summer, Trafford must pick his next move carefully as his hopes of becoming Jordan Pickford’s heir as England No.1 hinge upon him getting it right. Pickford will be the first choice at the World Cup this summer, but he will be 34 by the time Euro 2028, co-hosted by the UK and Ireland, rolls around. That tournament on home soil could, therefore, provide the perfect opportunity for Trafford to take the baton from the man who has guarded England’s goal in every tournament since the 2018 World Cup.

Trafford has already won a major trophy with England’s Under-21s, saving a last-gasp penalty in the European Championship final win over Spain back in 2023. And when Guardiola spoke about Trafford in February after he had helped seal City’s place in the Carabao Cup final, his international future was the first thing on his mind.

"England has an unbelievable 'keeper," said the City coach. "Today, in modern football, you have to have two exceptional 'keepers in a team because you never know what can happen."

That might be correct for a team as demanding as City, but Trafford doesn’t owe the club anything and needs to move on for the good of his career. He cannot spend another season hoping Donnarumma gets injured or suffers a confidence crisis. He has done enough waiting already.