The impending signing of James Trafford, who reportedly completed his Manchester City medical on Monday, offers some much needed clarity for the club’s future at goalkeeper. It also means that City have four senior players at the position, with no exits immediately obvious. Scott Carson left the club to become a free agent earlier in the window, but was replaced by Chelsea's Marcus Bettinelli. The only other exits have been club legend Kevin De Bruyne and former captain Kyle Walker. Ederson has been linked with a move to Galatasaray, but City reportedly expect the Brazilian to remain at the club next season.
🚨 Manchester City to sign James Trafford from Burnley. Sold at £14m & purchasing for £27m so buy-back cost ~£13m. Activated matching rights on #NUFC offer & 22yo picked #MCFC - 5+1yr contract. Ederson staying, Ortega to go but nothing close @TheAthleticFC https://t.co/w3gJa6OJN2
— David Ornstein (@David_Ornstein) July 25, 2025
The Overloaded Backline
The abundance of goalkeepers is only one part of this problem. The club also have seven senior centre-backs, which is far too many for a team set to play with a more traditional backline next season. January signings Abdukodir Khusanov and Vitor Reis are both set to remain at the club, rather than going out on loan. Additionally, Josko Gvardiol and Rúben Dias seem to be Pep Guardiola’s preferred partnership, so presumably at least one of the remaining three central defenders will be leaving the club in the next few weeks. Manuel Akanji has, like Ederson, been linked with a move to Galatasaray. The other two, John Stones and Nathan Aké, who have both struggled with injuries in recent months, might also be eyeing up moves, but this might be more complicated for them than they, or the club, would like.
Home Grown Shortage
Of the 33 players in Manchester City’s squad (including James Trafford), there are currently 12 that would be considered 'Home Grown’ for Champions League squad registration. Of these, however, are outcasts Kalvin Phillips and Jack Grealish, as well as academy players James McAtee and Joshua Wilson-Esbrand, all of which are expected to make moves away from the club in the coming weeks. If those four leave, the squad numbers will be 29 players with eight Home Grown; eight is the number of Home Grown players required to register a full 25 man squad. This means that any further Home Grown player sales, such as if Stones or Aké were to leave, would not free up additional space for Champions League registration. In this scenario, four non-Home Grown players would either need to be sold or left out of the Champions League squad.
BREAKING: Pep Guardiola has told #ManCity he does NOT want a big squad next season.
— City Xtra (@City_Xtra) May 20, 2025
Pep: "I said to the club, 'I don't want that!' I don't want to put five, six players in the tribune, I don't want that. I will quit. If they don't make a short squad, I will not stay.
"It's…
Who might leave?
Towards the end of last season, Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola stated that he wanted a smaller squad heading into the new season, so it is somewhat ironic that the club currently has a gargantuan 33-man squad. Even without this, the Catalan will not want to deal with players being unsettled over omission from the Champions League squad. So who can City offload to bring down their numbers? There are the four Home Grown players I mentioned previously, but all the others will need to be non-Home Grown. Manuel Akanji seems to be likely, since he is the only non-Home Grown centre-back who the club will be comfortable moving on. Ilkay Gündogan, one year on from his re-signing with the club, is the third City player that has been linked to Galatasaray. With Trafford coming in and Ederson expected to stay, Stefan Ortega would appear to be the odd goalkeeper out, although no interest has emerged thus far. Bernardo Silva might have left, but his appointment as captain would seem to rule that out. Mateo Kovacic, on the back of a divisive campaign, could be the final exit, but there has been no movement around him. Other than that, no obvious candidates to leave exist within Manchester City’s squad, which leaves the club running on very tight margins to make Champions League registration.
