Newcastle United have already agreed personal terms with £20m-rated star as duo 'set to leave' in 2025

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Burnley goalkeeper James Trafford remains on Newcastle United’s radar heading into the January transfer window.

Newcastle saw a £16million bid rejected by Burnley in June before the club signed goalkeepers John Ruddy and Odysseas Vlachodimos and their interest ultimately cooled. Vlachodimos arrived at Newcastle are part of a Premier League Profitability and Sustainability Rules scramble with Nottingham Forest that saw Elliot Anderson head in the opposite direction.

But with goalkeepers Ruddy, Martin Dubrakva and Mark Gillespie all out of contract at the end of the season as things stand and first-choice stopper Nick Pope heading into the final 18 months of his deal - long-term goalkeeping targets have been assessed by the club. Newcastle reportedly reached a verbal agreement regarding personal terms with Trafford over the summer but Burnley were keen to keep hold of the 22-year-old, valuing him at closer to £20million.

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Trafford has played 13 games in the Championship for Burnley so far this season, conceding six goals and keeping seven clean sheets as part of the best defence in the division.

Last season in the Premier League, the young ‘keeper kept just two clean sheets in 28 appearances as Burnley were relegated. Should The Clarets agree to sell Trafford, Manchester City would be entitled to a sell-on fee having offloaded the goalkeeper to Turf Moor for £15million in 2023.

While a January move is possible, Newcastle head coach Eddie Howe has played down the prospect of a busy winter window for his side despite a frustrating summer.

"It's unpredictable at the moment,” Howe admitted. “It's very difficult to see what is going to happen. I know no one wants to hear it, but January is always a difficult window in every window so I don't think we should necessarily go into it expecting any different to any other previous January.

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“Transfer trading, generally, was down last summer compared to the previous summer so will this January follow suit and it's quieter across the board? Possibly, yes. These are things that don't go in favour of a busy window so without wanting to make predictions, I'd be surprised if it deviated from that.”

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