Trafford reveals mental wellbeing drove his £45m Leeds move after City exile

James Trafford has revealed that his £45m move to Leeds United this summer was driven by the need to protect his mental wellbeing, after a season of near-total inactivity at Manchester City left the goalkeeper feeling “horrendous”.

Trafford rejoined City in the summer of 2025 following two years at Burnley, only to see his ambitions of becoming the club’s number one undone when Gianluigi Donnarumma arrived from Paris Saint-Germain on deadline day. Having started the opening three Premier League matches, Trafford was swiftly demoted to second choice, with Pep Guardiola reserving him almost exclusively for cup competitions. He made just one further league appearance across the remaining 35 fixtures — City’s 2-1 home defeat to Aston Villa on the final day, by which point Arsenal had already sealed the title.

“What a horrendous, horrendous feeling, not playing,” Trafford told BBC Sport. “I had to play regularly this season for my own mental wellbeing. You just lose yourself not playing. Maybe I’m different, I don’t know, but the feeling of not playing every week, it felt horrendous. I just had to play every week this season for that mental feel-good and to keep progressing with my career and edging me closer to achieving the dreams I want to achieve.”

Despite the frustration, Trafford did contribute to City’s domestic cup double, starting in goal for both the Carabao Cup final victory over Arsenal and the FA Cup final win against Chelsea at Wembley. Those performances earned him a place in Thomas Tuchel’s England squad for the World Cup, where he served as back-up to Jordan Pickford — before completing his switch to Leeds after the tournament.

Trafford is measured in his assessment of that difficult year. “Going into any season, I always have the highest of hopes and always the belief that it will go the best way it could,” he said. “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.”

The 22-year-old’s candour about the psychological impact of a lack of playing time adds a rare personal dimension to what might otherwise be read as a straightforward transfer story — and underlines the pressure young goalkeepers face when competing for a single position at elite clubs.