Burnley's James Trafford shares cryptic post amid ongoing Newcastle United transfer saga
Despite all the speculation, and with less than a month until the Premier League season begins, James Trafford remains a Burnley player.
The 22-year-old remains a key target this summer for Newcastle United, who have long chased the goalkeeper’s services.
Trafford is keen to make the move to St James’ Park and personal terms won’t be an issue, but as yet, the two clubs have failed to come to an agreement over a fee.
Many had assumed the saga would have been resolved by now, yet the uncertainty remains.
Trafford’s cryptic post
Overnight, Burnley’s number one posted a message to social media that got both Burnley and Newcastle fans talking.
He uploaded an image to his Instagram stories at about 9.30pm on Thursday night of a photo inside the gym with the caption: “on a mission”.
The post seemingly confirmed what many Burnley fans had suspected, that Trafford is not currently away in Portugal with the rest of his Clarets teammates.
Scott Parker’s side have spent the last week in the Algarve on a warm weather training camp as they step up their preparations for next month’s Premier League opener against Tottenham.
Both sets of fans had already speculated that Trafford was absent from the trip having not spotted him in any of the images posted to the club’s official social media platforms and website.
Burnley FC have been contacted for comment.
What has Trafford previously said about his future?
At the end of last season, Trafford opened up on last summer’s failed move to the North East – although he never mentioned Newcastle by name.
He told former goalkeeper Ben Foster on his Fozcast podcast: “In the summer I think people knew I wanted to move. “The club that I was close to going, it was a good fit for me. It was brilliant for me and I really believed in it.
“I wanted to move, not just because I didn’t want to play in the Championship, I had no shame playing in the Championship. I have no ego to think I’m better than the Championship. You only prove something by performing and showing people. You can say whatever you want but unless you perform.
“It was just when an opportunity and a situation you think suits you can happen, you should take it and you should try and go for it, so I wanted to move. It was close but it didn’t end up happening.
“The manager was brilliant throughout pre-season. I wasn’t the best, I was moody because I’m young and I wanted to move, but in the moment I still worked extremely hard.
“I knew the longer it went on, the reality became I would be playing the first game of the season and I wanted to play. I told the manager I’m available if he wanted to select me. If not, I’ll sit on the bench, but I’m available. He played me the first game and that was it.”
Burnley have already lost the services of CJ Egan-Riley this summer after the defender – who, like Trafford, was a key component of the club’s record-breaking defence in the Championship – left Turf Moor to join Marseille on a free transfer.