'Special position' - Pep Guardiola responds to Man City issue and hints at James Trafford change

5 hours ago 4

James Trafford kept his place in goal for Manchester City but made a mistake as the Blues were beaten 2-0 by Tottenham at the Etihad.

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James Trafford kept his place in the Manchester City side ahead of Ederson

Pep Guardiola said he rewarded James Trafford for his performance against Wolves by keeping him in his Manchester City team against Tottenham, despite the return to the matchday squad of Ederson.

Trafford impressed on his City debut in the win at Wolves last week, keeping a clean sheet in the 4-0 win and showing the quality of his distribution as well at Molineux.

Before and after that win Guardiola had said Ederson remained his No. 1, despite bringing Trafford back to the club in a £27million deal this summer, with the 22-year-old signing from Burnley two years after he left the Etihad.

The situation is complicated further with Galatasaray keen on signing Ederson, who has less than a year remaining on his contract, while City are lining up a move for out-of-favour Paris St-Germain goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma if the Brazilian does depart.

That will be finalised in the last week or so of the transfer window but Guardiola refuted suggestions Ederson had been benched because he might leave the club and said Trafford deserved to keep his place.

While the City boss admits goalkeepers need consistency in selection, he said rotation would continue to play a part, which might be good news for Trafford if Italy No. 1 Donnarumma, 26, does sign.

"He made a good first game, James, and I decided to continue," explained Guardiola.

"When I take decisions in the first part of the season - not just the keeper, the keeper is a special position of course to have more consistency - for all the players you play one ore two everyone thins okay this is the starting line up and these are the players who are going to play, but this amount of games everybody will play. It was just today I decided that."

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