MANCHESTER CITY’S sell-on clause is complicating Newcastle United’s attempts to sign James Trafford from Burnley.

Senior Newcastle officials have held talks with the Burnley hierarchy over Trafford, having identified the 21-year-old England squad member as their preferred goalkeeping option this summer.

Newcastle initially looked into signing Valencia’s Giorgio Mamardashvili, but concluded that a deal for the Georgia international would be too expensive and hard to pull off.

The Magpies are understood to have tabled an initial bid of around £16m for Trafford, who joined Burnley from Manchester City last summer, although crucially, a significant proportion of that fee would be dependent on a series of clauses being met.

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Ideally, Burnley would like to agree a total package worth much closer to £20m, and they are adamant they want as much of the total fee as possible paid up front.

The terms of the deal that took Trafford to Turf Moor mean that Manchester City are due a 20 per cent clause if the youngster leaves his current employers.

That clause means Burnley are determined to drive a hard bargain and hold out for the best deal possible in the wake of their relegation from the top-flight last season.

The situation is currently at something of an impasse, although Tyneside sources remain confident a resolution will be achieved ahead of the start of pre-season training.

Newcastle have already allowed Loris Karius to leave at the end of his contract, and Trafford’s arrival will almost certainly result in the sale of the club’s current second-choice goalkeeper, Martin Dubravka.

Celtic have been linked with Dubravka, who will enter the final year of his current contract later this month, with the Slovakian having produced a superb performance as his national side pulled off the biggest shock of Euro 2024 so far as they beat Belgium 1-0 on Monday.

Dubravka was asked about his club future in the aftermath of that game, but refused to answer any questions relating to his position at Newcastle.