The summer Trafford/Muric dilemma

[FeedTheArf]

Thinking ahead to this summer, it’s going to be interesting how Kompany addresses the keeper situation.

Obviously Trafford came in with a big price tag but by any measure Muric has taken his chance and shown he can do it at this level.

I can’t see either keeper wanting to play second fiddle next season, but I’m not sure Trafford has done enough for a club to come in for him at the financial level we’d need to at least break even. Equally, if Kompany starts next season with Trafford again then if I was Muric I’d be on the phone to my agent to get me a move.

It’s going to be a test of his man management skills for sure.

[claret2018]

A loan in a decent league abroad might be a good option for Trafford

[Pickles]

If we're in the Championship next season it'll be Trafford because I doubt Muric will be around.

[CrosspoolClarets]

I suspect we may be fielding a £10m - £15m bid for Muric now he has proven himself. In that situation we would probably not stand in his way.

[123EasyasBFC]

I’d be more worried with Trafford in the championship than in the premier league.

The amount of championship teams who will target us from set pieces. Trafford won’t be able to act as the extra outfielder like muric did.

Best scenario would be to cut our loses on Trafford and keep Muric

[hetheclaret]

My hope is that Muric stays no.1 and Trafford goes out on loan to a lower half championship team. He reminds me of when David de Gea first started at Utd - he needs a summer or two in the gym to bulk up.

Unfortunately I can see Muric leaving and Trafford being no.1

[NewClaret]

I suspect we may be fielding a £10m - £15m bid for Muric now he has proven himself. In that situation we would probably not stand in his way.

You see, that makes me feel physically sick.

I honestly think he is one of the best keepers in the league. I’d rate him more highly than Onana, for sure, and look at what he went for.

His recent blunders probably haven’t helped, but I think he has the potential to go for a similar fee if he performed at that level for long enough in the Prem and a team desperate for a new #1 came along.

If we’d played him all season we probably wouldn’t be down and would certainly be getting a lot more than those kind of sums.

[summitclaret]

We absolutely won't need both of them in the Championship, we didn't this season. Massive waste of resources. I like Trafford and think too much too soon has been a big mistake. Muric playing means we don't have to try and play through a press, so he has to start. Ideally will stay up and loan Trafford to likely top Championship side to get his confidence back.

[NewClaret]

We absolutely won't need both of them in the Championship, we didn't this season. Massive waste of resources. I like Trafford and think too much too soon has been a big mistake. Muric playing means we don't have to try and play through a press, so he has to start. Ideally will stay up and loan Trafford to likely top Championship side to get his confidence back.

I’m struggling on the staying up part, but what I’d say is that Pace HAS to understand how vital Muric is to how we play. He’s a special talent. Pay him accordingly and get him extended, whichever league we’re in.

If we go down I think Muric is equally vital than if we stay up.

If we stayed up, I still can’t see a £15m signing going out on loan, but agree that’d be best for him. BPF has a year left so I’d loan Trafford and have BPF as #2, but as I said I can’t see it.

In some ways we’re incredibly lucky with these two brilliant talents in our squad, in others it’s a buggers muddle.

[Tricky Trevor]

Shouldn’t be a dilemma at all. You play your best keeper, Muric. If we go down and he doesn’t want to then sell him and play Trafford but get him in the gym all Summer and make a man of him.

[mybloodisclaret]

Was going to raise the thread myself yesterday. I also can't see Muric staying if we go down, sadly, as I'm a huge supporter.

I would like the figure to be far closer to 20 mill for him. Team of the week in 50% of your games is some going and if you're hitting those performance levels you are a top 4-6 keeper.

He has 2 years left on his current deal so no need for us to be bullied too much. Of course, he may well have already made his mind up having been second fiddle for most of the season.

[equinox]

Play both of them, Trafford operating behind Muric.

[claptrappers_union]

He will just have to wait for his chance, like Pope did

[jedi_master]

No dilemma there for me - Trafford is number two.

[Chester Perry]

If we look at the possible/probable (depending on your perspective) cash flow issues, particularly if relegation does happen, then the club will be wanting to sell (according to the auditors) and currently the profit is in Muric not Trafford given the transactions that brought them to our club.

[Greeny]

No dilemma for me either. Muric all the way as our no.1.

Was at OT on Saturday. Muric makes all the difference to our team performance and keeps us on the front foot.

Whenever I watched us with Trafford in goal we were always under pressure. The opposition all played on this weakness.

VK needs to hang his head in shame persisting with JT as long as he did. We would not be in the mess we are at the moment if he had brought Muric back sooner.

Send JT out on loan.

[CoolClaret]

I personally believe that we need to keep Muric, O'Shea, Esteve, Cullen and Berge together as a priority.

I'd prefer to take cut price deals elsewhere if it meant that we kept them lot together because for me that is a proper spine of BFC for the next 3+ seasons.

[Goliath]

Trafford needs as many games as possible, so regardless if Muric is here or not I'd be sending him out on loan. We can't afford to risk promotion on him being able to step up.

Also if Muric goes it should be for one hell of a fee, there's very few keepers in world football with his skillset and he suits the modern game absolutely perfectly, unlike Nick Pope who most clubs didn't want because of his poor distributon.

[Carlos the Great]

It’s a no brainer ?! Surely everyone can see that Muric is a far better keeper

[ksrclaret]

Even allowing for Muric's two clangers, which were both absolutely honking and worse than any single mistake Trafford has made, Muric is still the better goalkeeper in every way and it isn't even close.

If we sold Muric, we'd need to bring in a new no 1, even for the Championship.

[LincsWoldsClaret]

Most likely - We’ll be keeping Trafford

Upto Muric if he wants to stay I guess, depends on offers

[Poulton-le-Claret]

Feels like a no brainer to me. Try to recoup something on JT and back Muric as No. 1.

I don't know what the club will do though. My guess is they will look to offload AM for a decent profit and stick with JT, hope I'm wrong.

[Shaggy]

It shouldn’t even be a question. Muric is far superior to Trafford in every department, literally levels above Trafford.

Trafford needs to go on loan to a lower Championship side next season or sold if we can recoup the money on him.

It’s no coincidence that our form has taken a drasitic upturn since Muric was brought back in. Like the majority of fans predicted.

[bumba]

Imagine where we'd be if we kept Muric as number 1 all season and spent that £15 million rising to 19 on a number 9

[blatherwickstattoos]

Muric is a better keeper who’s already won that league and got league keeper of the season whilst doing so. We HAVE to keep him as number 1

[Vegas Claret]

if we start the season with Trafford over Muric my toys will be thrown from my pram, and I've got a big ******* pram

[CrosspoolClarets]

I would also keep him as number 1 (no disrespect to young Traffs) and value Muric at about £30m given age and improvement potential, but I still see him going in the summer for £10m-£15m.

Basically, we have probably, left it too late, and there will be a lot of bad news to come if we have.

[bfcjg]

If I was Muric I'd be demanding a transfer after how poorly Kompany treated him. He was instrumental in our promotion and it was patently obvious Trafford wasn't ready for the Premier league after the first few games. It must have been humiliating for him to have sit on the bench watching. I'd have thought a mid Premier league team will move for Muric and it wouldn't surprise me if it was Wolves.
I fear we will be stuck with Trafford

[ashtonlongsider]

I don't think it's any coincidence that our back four has looked more assured since Muric came in. However, if it's a toss up Trafford has the profile and I'd guess with age he'll become a top keeper hopefully with us.

[boatshed bill]

If we drop:
Muric 1st choice (if he's prepared to stay).
Trafford on a half-season loan to a decent European team.
Find a club for Peacock-Farrell, free transfer?
Vigoroux as back-up.
Casper 3rd choice.

[Bosscat]

No dilemma there for me - Trafford is a number two.

[claretspice]

I'm not sure i see this as much of a dilemma.

We have two keepers on the books who are potentially valuable assets. We don't need both in the Championship, and indeed trying to retain both is likely to result in whichever doesn't play much losing value.

So unless we stay up, one is going to be sold, and it'll be the one that gives the best return on our initial outlay to sign the player. The other will stay and be number 1 in the Championship. I'm not sure I'm that concerned either way because both Muric and Trafford will I suspect be excellent options in the Championship - I think there's been quite a lot of hyperbole to the Trafford debate that isn't warranted (he'd not be getting called into the England squad if he wasn't still seen as a top prospect) but a year in the Championship might be exactly what he needs, whilst Muric has already proved himself at that level.

In the still unlikely event we stay up on the other hand, the healthy competition between the two can only be a good thing and they'll both be stronger for their experiences this season. We could have done with more experience between the sticks this season but we are where we are and we'll be OK either way in that department next season.

[bobinho]

It’s a Jedi mind trick….

Big surprise for me on opening day was finding our new keeper starting against the European champions. Untested at this level, having previously played at league 1 level, it was a MASSIVE ask to expect him to step up. It’s now obvious to almost everyone that it was too big an ask.
I like Trafford, I think he will make an excellent keeper in time. Day one, week one against Man City wasn’t that time to test him. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but I’m slightly alarmed that our manager thought this was a good idea.
Somebody used the term “man management” earlier in the thread. I think it’s an area that needs quite a bit of work.

Muric is No 1 for me. Trafford may take over at some point, and that point must be after Muric has had a bad run of form, or has left, not because of how much he cost us, but the shirt belongs to Muric right now.

[BurnleyFC]

We should be doing everything in our power to keep Muric.

[boatshed bill]

We should be doing everything in our power to keep Muric.

And if we have to sell him, look at Cooper at Plymouth.

[mybloodisclaret]

I don't think we will have enough power to keep him. He'll more than likely treble or even quadruple his wages with a move to where he could go to.
Not the gold standard bench mark for a players value, but he is in team of the week 50% of the games he plays.

[nyclaret]

Unfortunately I think Muric will be sold for a profit. That’s the new business model after all.

[Woodleyclaret]

Trafford needs returning to City as per alleged agreement if we move him on.We need to keep Aro as he's a much better keeper
We need to keep a goalkeeper over several years not chop and change.

[beddie]

I’d be gutted if we sold Muric. Some of his long ball passes in the championship were outstanding and we’ll need that again from him.Trafford as number two for me but I wouldn’t be bothered if he was sold or he went out on loan.

[boatshed bill]

Trafford needs returning to City as per alleged agreement if we move him on.

Sale of goods act?

[warksclaret]

I was never a huge fan of Muric until the last 7 or 8 games since hes been back in the first team..He is a far far better keeper than when we won the championship and I love the speed he can get an attack going. For me I would love him to be our keeper and then we should loan Trafford out to either a foreign club or someone like Ipswich if they get promoted as their No 2, and occasionally no 1 keeper

[IanMcL]

I suspect we may be fielding a £10m - £15m bid for Muric now he has proven himself. In that situation we would probably not stand in his way.

If Trafford is valued at £20m Muric must be out of sight!

[Quicknick]

I was never a huge fan of Muric until the last 7 or 8 games since hes been back in the first team..He is a far far better keeper than when we won the championship and I love the speed he can get an attack going. For me I would love him to be our keeper and then we should loan Trafford out to either a foreign club or someone like Ipswich if they get promoted as their No 2, and occasionally no 1 keeper

Despite his two recent howlers, I agree totally. He looks so much better than last season. And much better than Trafford. Loaning Trafford to a Premier League Ipswich or someone similar is a great idea.

[bobinho]

Sale of goods act?

Very funny.

[ElectroClaret]

We'd pretty easily be staying up if Muric had been in the side earlier, and why VK persisted with Trafford for as long as he did is utterly bewildering and is one of the main reasons that we'll probably be going down.
So frustrating.

As for Trafford, yes put him out on loan or whatever.
Shockingly inept to spend such a sum on him.

[iowalan]

Do we not have Wiill Norris Portsmouths 1st division keeper of the season ?

[claretspice]

Despite his two recent howlers, I agree totally. He looks so much better than last season. And much better than Trafford. Loaning Trafford to a Premier League Ipswich or someone similar is a great idea.

Whether or not its a good idea from a football perspective, I'm not sure it's realistic from a financial perspective. Going down will inevitably lead to some players being sold to balance the books and bring in cash. The idea we can afford to retain two keepers who are saleable assets on the basis that we won't use one at all and indeed will loan him out to another club seems pretty implausible to me. We're not in a position where money is no object so I'd expect one of the two keepers to be sold. If that is Muric, then Trafford is a good replacement to step up in the Championship, in precisely the way that Muric was a decent replacement for Pope two summers ago. That's just the way the world moves on.

On the other hand, it's completely possible we sell Trafford, and I wouldn't rule out us getting our money back on him despite an indifferent season. His potential is evident and shown in his international call up. As I write, I note he's been linked with a move to Liverpool this summer as a potential back-up to Alisson should Kelleher leave, which doesn't feel implausible to me.

[Ric_C]

Whatever happens in the summer with ins and outs in the squad, we need to move heaven and earth to make sure Muric is our number 1 next season.

[claretspice]

Whatever happens in the summer with ins and outs in the squad, we need to move heaven and earth to make sure Muric is our number 1 next season.

I'm not sure I follow why it is any more important than ensuring that Pope was our number 1 last time we were relegated. That's just the way of the world. On relegation, players leave and others step up.

I get that Muric's distribution was extremely valuable in the Championship, but I think we need a bit of a sense of proportion.

[mikeconroy10]

Muric is a £50million+ goalkeeper. He'd be at home at any of the top teams in the world. Sadly I think he'll be sold and sadly I think it'll be on the cheap.