JAMES Trafford made a brilliant double save in stoppage time to help England Under-21s lift the European Championship.
The former Wanderers loanee – who is on the verge of a £19million move to Burnley – saved a 97th minute penalty from Spain captain Abel Ruiz and then a follow-up to ensure that Curtis Jones’s first-half strike proved the winner.
Trafford did not concede a single goal in six games through the tournament as Lee Carsley’s Young Lions won the Euros for the first time since 1984.
The Cumbrian keeper spent 18 months on loan with Bolton, playing 74 times, and breaking the club’s record for clean sheets in a single season with 26 in the previous campaign.
Trafford is set to become the third most expensive English goalkeeper ever if he moves to Turf Moor, as expected, early next week.
Speaking to The Bolton News this afternoon after the 1-0 win at Bamber Bridge, Wanderers boss Ian Evatt said: “James is probably going to Burnley for £19million on Monday, which is crazy, so we haven’t done a bad job over the last 18 months. It is just a crying shame we didn’t own him!”
Trafford saved one penalty in a Wanderers shirt – denying Morecambe’s Cole Stockton in a stormy game at the Mazuma Stadium in November 2022.
He also became the first Bolton goalkeeper to keep four clean sheets in his first four games for the club when he initially arrived on loan from City in January last year, having had a disappointing spell on loan with Accrington in the first half of that season.
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