For almost all of last summer, and even multiple windows before, it seemed inevitable that James Trafford would leave Burnley to join Newcastle United.
Ultimately, the decision on the goalkeeper’s future was taken out of our hands, as Man City’s contractual right to match our bid and easily eclipse what we could offer him in wages, seeing us miss out on another top target.
We’ve been linked with a summer move for the unsettled City stopper, but a new report has revealed another Premier League stopper who we have our eyes on…
According to Mark Douglas at The iPaper, Newcastle United are considering a summer move for Brighton’s Bart Verbruggen, with a third attempt to sign long-term target James Trafford deemed ‘complicated.’
With Nick Pope soon to be entering the final year of his contract, having extended it for an additional year very recently, and Aaron Ramsdale likely returning on loan to Southampton, a new no.1 is an essential bit of business we need to conduct in the summer.
Verbruggen is already the starting Dutch goalkeeper at the age of 23 – he will expected to play a big part in their upcoming World Cup campaign – and his ball-playing ability is likely to appeal.
Having previously been linked to both Chelsea and Bayern Munich in the past, it feels like only a matter of time before someone snaps him up from Fabian Hurzeler’s side: although he won’t come cheap.
Of course, any move for Verbruggen is contingent on a number of factors, especially as a third bid to sign Trafford can not be ruled out. Any permanent move you would expect to cost more than the £27m that City spent to bring him back to the blue half of Manchester, however, while his wages could be a problem.
Then there’s what to do with our other fringe goalkeepers and youngsters. John Ruddy and Mark Gillespie are out of contract this summer, while 19-year-old Aidan Harris has featured on the bench in our Champions League ties after showing promise in our U-21 side.
Who can forget about Odysseas Vlachodimos? The Greek goalkeeper is enjoying a stellar season on loan at Sevilla, where he looks to be very settled with life on the continent.
The former Nottingham Forest and Benfica man has previously hinted that he would be open to a return to us, but Douglas notes that there’s currently no concrete plans in place for Vlachodimos to be the starting goalkeeper any time soon.
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