Newcastle links re-emerge after James Trafford's impressive campaign
James Trafford has again been linked with Newcastle United following an impressive campaign in the Championship.
Trafford played a key role as the Clarets secured an immediate return to the Premier League under Scott Parker, only conceding 16 goals in the league all season.
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The goalkeeper was linked with the Magpies last summer but remained at Turf Moor, keeping a remarkable 29 clean sheets.
He is currently on international duty with England and was an unused substitute against Andorra over the weekend. Thomas Tuchel's side are back in action tonight against Senegal.
Sky Sports claim that Newcastle are 'in talks' over a potential deal for Trafford to provide competition with Nick Pope, who departed East Lancashire in the summer of 2022.
Trafford recently spoke about his situation last summer and admitted he had been "close" to a move.
'In the summer I think people knew I wanted to move,' he told Fozcast. 'The club that I was close to going, it was a good fit for me. It was brilliant for me and I really believed in it.
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'I wanted to move, not just because I didn't want to play in the Championship, I had no shame playing in the Championship.
'I have no ego to think I'm better than the Championship. You only prove something by performing and showing people.
'It was just when an opportunity and a situation you think suits you can happen, you should take it and try to go for it, so I wanted to move. It was close but it didn't end up happening.
'The manager was brilliant throughout pre-season. I wasn't the best, I was moody because I'm young and I wanted to move, but in the moment I still worked extremely hard.
'I knew the longer it went on, the reality became I would be playing the first game of the season and I wanted to play.
'I told the manager I'm available if he wanted to select me. If not, I'll sit on the bench but I'm available. He played me in the first game and that was it.'
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