All eyes were on James Trafford as Leeds United’s club-record signing made his debut in a pre-season friendly against Manchester United in Dublin tonight.
Leeds signed Trafford last week for a deal worth up to £45m, and the 23-year-old goalkeeper was in the firing line today against Manchester United in Dublin.
While he conceded a goal in the first half, the former Manchester United man made a couple of really good saves to show why Leeds invested big money in him this summer.
Trafford was taken off at the break, and Leeds could have won the game on penalties instead of losing, had he been the keeper between the sticks during the shootout.
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Daniel Farke reveals his thoughts on the debut of James Trafford
The Leeds boss has conceded that the goalkeeper hardly had a couple of training sessions before fielding against Manchester United and showed why he is potentially a world-class goalkeeper.
He is excited about Trafford getting better and improving further in the coming years, and admitted that he was desperate to sign him as Leeds needed a goalkeeper of his quality in their second season in the Premier League.
Farke said after the game: “He has had only two training sessions with us together so far, and he was just back in training for the first time yesterday.
“I thought he played well. It was a very good debut, and we are very happy to have him. He is a player who has the potential to be one day world-class.
If he keeps going like this, he will one day rise to the top. He is a player who has excelled at such a young age, and there is a reason Manchester City went out and bought him.
“We were desperate to bring him here at some stage, and finally it went through because we had the feeling he can make a big difference.
“Especially for a club in our situation, second year back in the Premier League, having a top-class goalkeeper is crucial. I pushed really hard for this transfer.”
Trafford is a huge upgrade on Karl Darlow
Karl Darlow played a key role in bringing some stability to Leeds United’s goalkeeping department over the last two seasons.
He stepped in for Illan Meslier during the promotion run-in and helped shore things up at the back. He found himself doing a similar job last season after Lucas Perri struggled to convince, once again providing Leeds with a dependable presence between the posts.
However, James Trafford is a different proposition. The 23-year-old has already shown his quality and still has plenty of room to develop into an outstanding goalkeeper. With the England international arriving at Elland Road this summer, Daniel Farke was never going to be able to guarantee Darlow a regular starting role.
Leeds have clearly upgraded their number one position, and Trafford’s arrival means there is unlikely to be much regret over Darlow’s departure.
