Kyle Walker grabs headlines as James Trafford Man City predicament magnified

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Manchester City will welcome Kyle Walker back to the Etihad on Saturday while James Trafford will sit on the bench against his former club.

The X43 is the popular bus route that takes revellers from Burnley to Manchester and back, winding its way through the East Lancashire countryside, although it's fair to say James Trafford and Kyle Walker probably opted for a different mode of transport this summer.

Trafford and Walker essentially swapped clubs as Manchester City and Burnley continued a trend of doing deals, with well-established lines of communication between the two sides.

Walker moved first, completing a shock move from the Etihad to Turf Moor that only leaked hours before it was confirmed. In the modern era, Burnley officials saw that as a major success, and they then blamed someone among their City counterparts for leaking it.

The Blues were then always staying abreast of Trafford's situation. It was clear the 22-year-old was on the move this summer and City were either going to profit via a sell-on or use their matching rights clause to try and sign him themselves. When they got the call from the Clarets in July to say a £27million bid from Newcastle had been accepted, they stumped up the cash to bring the goalkeeper back to the club.

So, this weekend would have always been circled on Walker and Trafford's calendars, but they will approach it in very different situations. Walker, 35, has delivered for his new club so far. His experience is proving invaluable, and his recent performances have been excellent.

His time at City ended badly, but Pep Guardiola prefers to remember the good times. On Friday, he called him one of the greatest full-backs of all-time and said he expected him to get a warm reception back at the club where he won everything there is to win.

His former Tottenham teammate Scott Parker is certainly delighted with Walker's contribution and actually believes City could have got more than the £5million they did for the right-back, a lot of which is dependent on Burnley remaining in the Premier League.

Asked if Burnley had got a bargain, Parker said: “Oh yeah, I feel absolutely delighted with it to be honest. I think it could have been a lot more than that and I still would have been absolutely delighted, because I know the level of player we're getting.

“I know Kyle well, so I know what he is and I knew what he'd bring. He ticks a lot of boxes Kyle in terms of not just his ability so I'm delighted we have him.”

But Parker's tone around Trafford was very different, calling his situation "a shame", and the dynamic for the young goalkeeper has changed since he returned to City.

Having been told he would challenge Ederson this season and look to become the club's No. 1 by the start of next season, Trafford is now facing up to an almost unwinnable battle against 26-year-old Gianluigi Donnarumma. There will probably be sympathy from his former Burnley colleagues, with his chances of getting on the pitch looking slim.

If he had known then what he knows now, perhaps Trafford would have opted for that move to Newcastle instead. Usurping Nick Pope would have been an easier challenge than doing the same to Donnarumma, who was voted the world's best goalkeeper last week.

If anything summed up the situation of Walker and Trafford, it was Guardiola's press conference on Friday. He faced eight questions related to Walker in some way, and none on Trafford.

The goalkeeper was covered in the week before facing Huddersfield, but that is his reality now. He will play in the Carabao Cup and FA Cup, and if that is all he can achieve this season, then another transfer next summer looks a distinct possibility.

That's not the dream Trafford was chasing when he took the opposite path to Walker in July, but that dream is already crashing up against reality.

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