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Leeds United are close to announcing the signing of James Trafford this week, which paves the way for Lucas Perri to leave the club. United’s goalkeeper position has never been settled since Daniel Farke took the job in 2023. First, Illan Meslier retained the No1 spot, but high-profile errors meant Karl Darlow had to see out the job for promotion. Darlow was then tasked to step in again last season as 2025 signing Lucas Perri struggled to settle in the Premier League. With Darlow now gone, Leeds had to make a statement goalkeeper signing. Leeds United to complete £40million James Trafford transfer It’s been a drawn-out process, but the worst kept secret of Leeds’ summer is about to be announced. The Whites have had James Trafford in sights for months to take the reins as our long-term goalkeeper solution. At the back end of July, United edged towards a £40million agreement to sign him from Manchester City. Now, the 23-year-old goalkeeper has completed a medical at Elland Road ahead of a stunning transfer to United. James Trafford arrival means Lucas Perri’s Leeds United exit is imminent Darlow isn’t the only goalkeeper expected out of the doors at Leeds this summer. Lucas Perri, having joined just over a year ago for £15.6million, is set to leave too. The Brazilian failed to establish himself as the guaranteed No1 under Farke. And now, he is all set for a move to Torino. Reports claimed earlier in the summer that a move would materialise once United had secured a goalkeeper ourselves. Now that Trafford is here, it paves the way for Perri’s imminent exit to the Serie A club. Indeed, Gianluca Di Marzio reports as such. He shares that a loan with an option to buy is in the works, once Leeds green-light his flight to Turin. It’s a shame that Perri couldn’t stick the landing at Leeds. There were flashes of shot-stopping brilliance from his first year here, with some marvellous saves contributing to our FA Cup run. However, for the stunning saves, they were outweighed by a worrying standard of distribution. Not only that, but there were a string of errors at the start of 2026 that opened the door for Darlow. Hopefully he finds his feet early at Torino and regains confidence. I still think there’s a good top-flight ‘keeper there.