Newcastle’s long-running pursuit of Trafford is edging towards a positive conclusion, with the Magpies hierarchy having held a series of discussions with their counterparts at Turf Moor.
An initial bid of around £27m was rejected last week, but Newcastle officials are confident a compromise agreement can be reached that will see Trafford move to Tyneside ahead of the start of pre-season training.
Trafford is understood to have indicated a desire to move to St James’ Park this summer, with further talks expected to take place in the next couple of days.
If Trafford joins Newcastle, he will be moving with the expectation of being Eddie Howe’s number one goalkeeper next season. That would mean Pope dropping down the pecking order, and there have been strong suggestions that the 33-year-old could look to move on rather than start next season as a number two.
Leeds United have been strongly linked with Pope, who has just entered the final year of his current contract on Tyneside. Newcastle are well stocked with goalkeepers at the moment, with Martin Dubravka, Odysseas Vlachodimos and Mark Gillespie on the books and talks ongoing over a possible new deal for John Ruddy, so the club would be willing to consider offers for Pope once Trafford’s deal goes through.
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However, rather than looking to find an exit route, Pope is understood to be ready to take on the challenge of trying to compete with Trafford for a first-team starting spot. The England international is happy and settled at Newcastle, and with the Magpies set to compete in the league phase of the Champions League in the first half of next season, as well as the early rounds of the Carabao Cup, there is scope for Howe to change his goalkeepers if he finds himself with two experienced shot-stoppers.
Howe would happily accommodate both Trafford and Pope in his first-team squad, although that would then cast doubt over the future of Dubravka, who also has less than 12 months remaining on his current deal. Dubravka, who turns 37 in January, almost moved to Saudi Arabia at the start of the year.
Newcastle remain in a dialogue with Nottingham Forest over Anthony Elanga, although they are yet to increase the £45m bid that was rejected for the Swedish winger last week.
They failed in an attempt to land Joao Pedro, with the forward having agreed to join Chelsea, and have also been forced to watch another of their attacking targets, Bryan Mbeumo, hold a series of talks with Manchester United ahead of an anticipated move to Old Trafford.
