Burnley star must forget transfer turmoil and now has big Turf Moor opportunity: View | OneFootball

James Trafford still has a chance to change his Burnley career.

Burnley endured a tumultuous transfer window with many of their top players leaving for clubs across Europe.

Outside of that, we saw a number of incomings as they looked to balance the books. But one position that seems like it will remain the same is goalkeeper, with James Trafford remaining at Turf Moor after a considerable amount of talk around his future.

Across the window, we saw interest arrive from Chelsea, Manchester City and Liverpool, but it was Newcastle United who had the most concrete talks. Unfortunately, for the Magpies, they couldn't push a deal across the line with their late loan move with an obligation to buy, ultimately falling short of what Burnley expected.

Additionally, this move likely came too late in the window, as Burnley's other goalkeeping option, Arijanet Muric, had already been sold to Ipswich Town for a deal worth up to £15 million.

The departure of the Kosovan leaves Trafford with main competition in the form of Vaclav Hladky, who joined the Clarets upon the expiry of his contract at the Tractor Boys.

Although a move to Newcastle would have been appealing for the former Manchester City man, he will now be eager to focus on putting in the effort needed to help Burnley return to the Premier League at the first attempt.

James Trafford needs to put 2023-24 behind him

With the transfer talks done and the 2024-25 campaign well underway, Trafford's main aim has to be eradicating the poor performances he displayed in the Premier League last year.

Albeit it was a big step-up for the 21-year-old, his debut season in the top division was a real disappointment.

Susceptible under the high ball, many teams targeted him by placing their corners and free-kicks around his six-yard box and asking him to come and claim them. Often fumbling and struggling to catch it cleanly, he allowed opposing sides to capitalise and score.

Outside the visible errors, his statistics made for grim reading, with the goalkeeper's goals prevented standing at a terrible -7.47. As well as that, he kept just two clean sheets and managed a save percentage of 63.1%, one of the worst figures in the league.

All this saw him displaced for the final ten games of the season, with Muric taking his spot in the side.

Now confirmed as number one under Scott Parker, Trafford will hope that he has learned his lessons and can put his terrible 2023-24 campaign behind him.

Trafford can take inspiration from Bolton Wanderers loan

While last season wasn't ideal for Trafford, at 21-years-old he can place it as a learning experience and build from it.

Looking back, he should instead draw inspiration from his loan spell at Bolton Wanderers in 2022-23, where he excelled and became a key player in Ian Evatt's side.

Signing on loan from Man City, he played 45 games in the league for the Trotters, keeping 22 clean sheets and conceding just 34 goals.

His save percentage was the highest in the league that season, and his number of goals prevented ranked fourth overall.

Although these performances were in League One, it was enough to make Burnley purchase him for £19 million, and there will still be a firm belief that he can reach this sort of level again.

What he needs is the trust of the head coach and fans, and with the pressure reduced this season, he will hope to get his career back on track.