Journalist: Guardiola sparks season long scrap with shock goalkeeper overhaul | OneFootball

Donnarumma, Trafford and Manchester City’s Season Long Scrap in Goal

It was the beginning of June when Pep Guardiola stood at his foundation’s charity golf event in Girona and spoke with unusual certainty about Manchester City’s goalkeeper situation. Asked about potential recruits such as Joan Garcia, Diogo Costa and Marc-André ter Stegen, Guardiola cut the conversation short.

“We’ve talked about the situation of the squad, and the two goalkeepers we have will stay,” he said.

It sounded definitive, as though City were ready to move forward with Ederson and Stefan Ortega. What followed, however, was anything but stability. By September’s transfer deadline, City had not only waved goodbye to Ederson but had also brought in Marcus Bettinelli, James Trafford and Gianluigi Donnarumma.

This sequence turned into a season long scrap over the most critical position on the pitch, exposing how quickly priorities can change at elite level football clubs.

Trafford’s return and City’s buy-back strategy

Trafford’s story is central to City’s reshaped plans. Once part of the academy from the age of 12, he left for Burnley in 2023 but with a buy-back clause attached. That clause was triggered once Newcastle came close to sealing a deal of their own, and Trafford found himself back at the Etihad for £27 million.

His reputation was already growing after a remarkable campaign with Burnley, where he conceded only 16 goals in a Championship-winning season. Newcastle offered a clear pathway to first-team football, but Trafford judged the timing at City more favourably. Ederson was 32, entering the final year of his contract, and carrying more knocks and mistakes than before.

The deal gave Trafford the chance to fight for appearances in a rotation role, similar to how Ortega had previously collected 56 matches over three years. But it also posed a risk. At just 22, goalkeepers crave consistency, and a stop-start existence could stall his development.

For Trafford, though, the move was as much about long-term opportunity as short-term playing time. The belief was that Ederson’s eventual departure would clear the way. Few could have predicted how quickly that gap would open.

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Donnarumma’s surprise arrival and Guardiola’s recalibration

Donnarumma was never part of City’s original transfer blueprint. The Italian had a contract with PSG until 2030 and had been integral to their Champions League triumph last season. But his situation changed dramatically when Luis Enrique decided Lucas Chevalier was a better fit for PSG’s tactical evolution.

“He is one of the very best goalkeepers out there and an even better man,” Enrique explained. “But we were looking for a different profile. It’s very difficult to make these types of decisions.”

That public break made Donnarumma available, and once City saw the chance, they moved quickly. At 26, with nearly 500 senior appearances and major international honours, he represented a rare opportunity to recruit one of the world’s finest keepers for a relatively modest £26 million.

Unlike Trafford, Donnarumma has not come to share minutes. He has come to own the role. For Guardiola, it signals a tactical adjustment. Where Ederson once redefined distribution from the back, Guardiola is now prioritising the shot-stopping fundamentals that Donnarumma excels at.

City’s internal analysis reportedly accepted that Donnarumma’s distribution is inferior, but judged his reflexes, reach and command of the area to be unmatched. With City facing more shots than in previous seasons, it is a pragmatic recalibration.

Ederson’s departure and legacy

Ederson’s move to Fenerbahce for £12 million closed an era. Across eight seasons, six league titles and countless innovations, he transformed what it meant to be a goalkeeper in the Premier League. Long kicks became attacking weapons, composure under pressure a non-negotiable attribute, and his influence will endure long after his departure.

Replacing him in a single window was a huge challenge. Yet by combining Trafford’s youth with Donnarumma’s prime, City have attempted to build for both present and future. The price is a complex dressing-room dynamic, as Trafford seeks opportunities while Donnarumma expects immediate ownership of the gloves.

What is striking is Guardiola’s flexibility. In 2016, he dismissed Joe Hart after a two-hour meeting, judging him incompatible with his style because of distribution limitations. In 2025, he has made peace with similar limitations in Donnarumma, deciding instead that reliability between the posts is the greater need.

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Season long scrap for supremacy

City’s goalkeeping summer is a case study in how quickly football can turn. In June, Guardiola projected calm and continuity. By September, the club had reshaped its entire depth chart, selling a cornerstone and recruiting two very different successors.

Trafford embodies the long-term planning of a club intent on retaining links with its academy, but his pathway is now complicated by Donnarumma’s status. The Italian, meanwhile, is positioned to become Guardiola’s mainstay, anchoring a defence that no longer feels indestructible.

There will be questions. Can Trafford accept a reduced role at this stage of his career? Will Guardiola adapt fully to Donnarumma’s profile and sacrifice some of the distribution flair that defined City under Ederson? Most of all, can these changes restore the stability and confidence that City’s backline once exuded?

What cannot be doubted is the scale of the transformation. City have engineered an overhaul in a single transfer window, blending opportunism with pragmatism. The season long scrap between Donnarumma, Trafford and the ghost of Ederson’s influence will shape not only City’s campaign but also Guardiola’s evolving legacy as a coach willing to change his principles when the situation demands it.