Will Trafford be questioning decision to return to Man City?

James Trafford sealed a dream return to Manchester City in the summer, but will the English goalkeeper now be questioning his decision?

The 22-year-old came through the City academy but did not make a first-team appearance before moving to Burnley in 2023, featuring in their relegation and playing a key role in their promotion back to the top flight last season.

At the start of this season Trafford was handed the number one shirt at City and was expected to challenge Ederson for the first-choice spot - in fact, he may have been ahead of schedule by starting the first three Premier League games of the campaign.

But the script was ripped up on deadline day when boss Pep Guardiola sold Ederson to Fenerbahce and instead of placing full faith in Trafford, the appeal of bringing in Gianluigi Donnarumma from Paris St-Germain for £26m proved too good to turn down.

Trafford had the opportunity to join Newcastle earlier in the summer but opted for City instead and just two months on from leaving Turf Moor, he may be left doubting the plan that was sold to him.

"James Trafford is a brilliant goalkeeper," former City keeper Shay Given told BBC Radio 5 Live.

"In a World Cup year, Pep will have given him the full sales pitch saying, 'you are coming in and the number one jersey is yours. You will be playing regularly, challenging for the Premier League and playing Champions League football and if you play your cards right, you might be playing for England in the World Cup next summer'.

"Fast forward two weeks and the big man Donnarumma comes in and he is parked up for the season. If it was me, I'd be raging. Raging!

"To have had that conversation and then this guy turns up - what does Trafford do now?"

"I always dreamed that one day I would be able to come back to Manchester City," Trafford said in July after signing a five-year deal. "This is the place I call home."

Similar to how he may be feeling now, there was confusion around Trafford's fee with City sources saying it was worth £27m plus add-ons.

However, Burnley sources put the figure at £31m plus add-ons and a sell-on clause, meaning it was a new record fee for a British goalkeeper.

If you believe the Clarets, Trafford may have surpassed Jordan Pickford's £30m figure from 2017 when he moved from Sunderland to Everton, but he will find it difficult to dislodge his compatriot from the number one slot for England.

He was immense for Burnley last season, keeping 29 clean sheets across 45 Championship games, and he was rewarded by being named Championship Player of the Year at the PFA awards in August.

He kept an impressive clean sheet on his City debut in the 4-0 victory at Wolves in their Premier League opener and though he made a mistake in the defeat by Tottenham, he was the one of the few players to come out of the loss to Brighton with any credit.

With World Cup qualifiers looming, he may have had one eye on breaking into Thomas Tuchel's England first team, but it all changed with the signing of giant goalkeeper Donnarumma.

Upon his arrival, club insiders said Trafford has age on his side and has an "amazing" future at the club, but he was immediately consigned to the bench and City are unbeaten in three games with the Italian in goal.

The involvement in four competitions means Trafford should see plenty of first-team opportunities during the campaign, with Guardiola confirming he will start in Wednesday's EFL Cup third-round tie at Huddersfield.

Asked how Trafford has responded, Guardiola said: "Unbelievable. He's training better than ever, he's a fantastic keeper.

"And with me, the second keepers always play a lot of games so there will not be an exception. [He is] so safe, so confident and so young, he will learn with Gigi and the future, we'll see what happens."

Eddie Howe's Newcastle had held a long-standing interest in Trafford and it is understood the player was "super excited" about the prospect of joining the Magpies, but talks over a fee became protracted.

City had a sell-on clause in the contract when they sold Trafford to Burnley, allowing them to have matching rights if another bid came in, which they activated once Newcastle did agree a fee.

Trafford had a straight choice to make and decided on a return to City.

If he had gone to St James' Park he would have competed for the number one spot with Nick Pope, but there are no guarantees he would have usurped his fellow Englishman, who has kept four clean sheets in five league games so far.

In Donnarumma, Trafford finds himself up against someone who is in a different class, officially the best goalkeeper in the world after winning the Yashin award and finishing ninth overall at the Ballon d'Or ceremony in France on Monday.

While Donnarumma has earned 76 caps for Italy and is captain of the national team at the age of 26, Trafford is yet to make his debut at senior level for the Three Lions and that task became even more difficult.

Donnarumma is a generational talent - he made his debut for AC Milan aged just 16 and broke England's hearts in the 2020 European Championship final at Wembley with his heroics in the penalty shootout.

But despite helping PSG to a treble of trophies last season, including their first Champions League triumph, he was ruthlessly dropped by manager Luis Enrique, who replaced him with Lucas Chevalier from Lille.

Guardiola saw an opportunity to sign a winner, someone who is already established as a world class player, which relegated Trafford from being the main man for a short time to playing a supporting role.

Trafford goes to West Yorkshire on Wednesday evening, but may be left wondering what might have been had he headed to the north east in the summer.

Additional reporting by Ciaran Kelly