James Trafford: ‘It’s great that Leeds fans are excited. This is the right move for me’

The excitement is cutting through to James Trafford. Leeds United’s goalkeeper does not manage his social media accounts but his friends have kept him informed of the feverish reaction to his arrival.

Forty-five minutes in front of a Croke Park terrace rammed with Leeds supporters, less than a week after becoming the club’s most expensive transfer in history, also gave him an unsubtle insight into the reaction. This club is everywhere, he’s discovered.

“Everyone seems to be a Leeds fan,” he told reporters, including The Athletic, on Friday. “That’s what I figured out.

“I don’t run my social media but my mates tell me there’s a lot of Leeds fans, and they’re all really excited. It’s amazing. Everyone wears Leeds tops (in the city). The only tops you really see — maybe I’ll notice it now — are Leeds tops.”

Trafford, 23, is an immensely level-headed individual. Every answer he gives boils down to a very sensible point of view: he loves playing football, he’s looking forward to doing it with Leeds and there’s nothing he can do about his price tag.

When a club spends an initial £40million ($54.1m) on a goalkeeper, the most ever spent on a British stopper, there is a certain level of anticipation and expectation attached to the player in question. Trafford acknowledges those hopes, but knows it’s not something he can focus on.

“I can’t control any of that,” he said. “I just want to go play football and work as hard as I can, and enjoy it as much as I can.

“People can be excited. It’s brilliant they’re excited and we want to win games of football.”

The former Manchester City man also does not think it’s especially about him, personally. Trafford suspects the next new signing at Leeds will generate the same kind of excitement, the next dopamine hit.

“It’s brilliant they’re (Leeds fans) excited,” he said. “Any new signing they’d be excited about because it’s just the nature of the world we live in. Everyone always wants the next thing but yes, it’s brilliant they’re excited and I can’t wait to play in front of them all again.”

Trafford, who travelled with England to the World Cup, was available this summer because he was Manchester City’s backup stopper. In interviews, he did not hide his disappointment at sitting out much of the Premier League season.

However, as he said on Friday, he took a lot from being the man between the sticks as City won the FA Cup and Carabao Cup. It showed him the power of persistence.

“It’s a very long season at City because there are so many games, so much travelling,” he said. “Some days were really tough and some days were really, really good.

“It’s just about balancing the emotions and learning from it because it was a totally new experience for me. The first half of the season was a lot harder because the games weren’t so frequent I was playing (in).

“From January to the end of the season, we had a lot of big games. We played Newcastle, or we played Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea.

“We had big games and we were getting closer to winning a trophy. To win the two trophies was a brilliant end to a very tough season because it rewarded me for never giving up.

“It was a season I look back on as a positive season. I learned a lot and got better.”

A goalkeeper of Trafford’s standing was never going to be short of transfer options, yet he believes he has found the correct landing spot.

“It’s the best move for me at this stage in my career and for all the dreams and things I want to achieve,” he said. “This is the thing that puts me in the best stead to achieve all those dreams, and I can’t wait.

Trafford impressed in City’s win over Arsenal in March’s Carabao Cup final (Julian Finney/Getty Images)

“The staff are always wanting to improve. It’s a really good squad that can always improve, and it’s a club that’s just always trying to improve. When everyone’s trying to move in the same direction and are moving, then you’re always going to grow, so that’s the main thing.”

Elland Road is the next box to tick off on his list as a Leeds player. He will almost certainly feature in the final pre-season friendly against Augsburg today (Saturday).

It won’t be his first time there, however. He faced Daniel Farke’s team in September 2024, when Burnley and Leeds went head-to-head for the Championship crown.

True to his form across that entire campaign (16 goals conceded in 45 appearances in that 2024-25 season), he kept a clean sheet.

“It’ll be a lot better playing with the fans than against the fans,” he said. “They’re honestly very, very good. They make Elland Road extremely tough and they improve us as a team, which is the main thing. We’re all really excited to be back in front of them again.”