Manchester City are set to sign Burnley goalkeeper James Trafford, according to journalist Fabrizio Romano.

Writing on his X account, Romano issued his catchphrase ‘Here We Go’ and revealed that the Cityzens have secured the 22-year-old’s signature for below his £40m buyback clause.

Manager Pep Guardiola is said to have been the main driving force behind the decision to go after Trafford, who had an outstanding season for Burnley in the Championship.

The England Under 21 international kept 29 clean sheets in 45 league appearances, helping the Clarets secure automatic promotion back to the top flight at the first time of asking.

Man City gazumped a Premier League rival

It is believed that Newcastle had a £27m bid accepted for Trafford, but City already held a “first-option” clause, which means that they were given the opportunity to match the Magpies’ offer.

They did just that, and it was Trafford who decided that he wanted to return to the Etihad Stadium just two years after being sold.

It’s a major setback for Newcastle who had been trying to sign the shot-stopper for the best part of a year. Eddie Howe’s side had a £15m offer rejected last summer.

Trafford is City’s sixth summer signing

Guardiola’s team have already brought in the likes of Rayan Cherki, Tijjani Reijnders, Rayan Ait-Nouri, Marcus Bettinelli and Sverre Nypan this summer.

Four of these additions came before the Club World Cup but City have now decided to add another fresh face. There will soon be four senior goalkeepers in the squad, including Trafford, Ederson, Stefan Ortega and Bettinelli.

Ederson has been heavily linked with a move away from Manchester but it is thought that Ortega is the most likely to leave. Speaking about his future last month, the German would not give a firm commitment that he would stay:

“It’s quite early for that question, I can’t say anything about that, it’s too early.”

In other news, Man City have been tipped to make a swap deal involving a £90m forward