James Trafford has left Burnley for Manchester City – and he isn’t the first star of a newly-promoted Premier League club to be sold.
Trafford only conceded 16 goals in Burnley’s promotion season, but the Clarets were unable to hold on to their talented goalkeeper and reluctantly sold him before their Premier League return.
We’ve dipped into the archives and picked out nine key players sold by promoted clubs before they kicked a ball in anger.
Jobe Bellingham
It’s not often that Championship players are signed by Borussia Dortmund, until you realise who Bellingham is and who his brother is.
Elder sibling Jude’s switch from Birmingham to Dortmund in 2020 was the making of the midfielder and Jobe couldn’t resist the same move five years later.
Sunderland got £30million for their troubles and instantly spent in a squad strengthening trolley dash, the results of which will be assessed next May.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall
Enzo Maresca left Leicester for Chelsea in the summer of 2024 and took Dewsbury-Hall, their star midfielder, along with him.
It was a misguided move from the player’s point of view, with most of his appearances coming from the Chelsea bench, but he still won both the Conference League and the Club World Cup.
And it was disastrous from Leicester’s perspective too, relegated with barely a whimper.
Fulham are rumoured to be interested in Dewsbury-Hall this summer, which sounds more appropriate. Leicester are counting the pennies in the second tier.
Sander Berge
The first whiff of smoke from the bonfire that was Sheffield United’s 2023-24 season was the sale of Berge to fellow promoted side Burnley.
A tough-tackling giant Norwegian midfielder, Berge was the Blades’ record signing and scored six goals to help the club return to the Premier League in 2023.
Sheffield United sank without trace, a proud Yorkshire club reduced to pining for the sanctuary of the EFL. Burnley were relegated too and Berge moved to Fulham.
Fabio Carvalho
A livewire youngster, Carvalho was sensational during Fulham’s promotion campaign in 2021-22.
The forward scored 10 goals and provided eight assists as the Cottagers romped to the title, catching the attention of bigger fish.
Liverpool won the race for his signature, paying Fulham around £5million, and Carvalho scored a dramatic late winner against Newcastle soon after his arrival.
That was as good as it got, as opportunities became limited. A pair of loan spells bled into a permanent move to Brentford, while Fulham became an established top flight side in his absence.
Brice Samba
Forest struggled to replace Samba for almost two years after his post-promotion departure.
Hero of the dramatic play-off semi shoot-out win over Sheffield United in 2022, Samba didn’t stick around and moved back to France to sign for Lens.
He would became a solid Ligue 1 goalkeeper, spending three seasons in Pas-de-Calais before moving to Rennes.
Forest went through a string of custodians either hapless (Mat Ryan), temporary (Dean Henderson) or a proper polar bear in Arkansas (Keylor Navas).
It took until February 2024 for Forest to finally have a goalkeeper worthy of lacing Samba’s boots; Matz Sels is now one of the Premier League’s best.
Emiliano Buendia
Norwich’s fifth and final promotion of the Premier League era in 2020-21 was spearheaded by Buendia, the Argentine midfielder with magnets in his boots.
Scoring 15 goals and providing 16 assists, he was was named Championship Player of the Year and promptly sold to Aston Villa for a club record fee.
While injuries and inconsistencies have hampered Buendia’s spell at Villa Park, he’s fared infinitely better than Norwich themselves who were relegated without trace and haven’t threatened to return.
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Mohamed Diame
A cult hero at Wigan and West Ham, Diame produced a string of superb performances for Hull in 2015-16, capped with a play-off final winner to lift the Tigers back into the promised land.
But financial disarray meant the midfielder was sold in act of pre-emptive surrender. Relegated Newcastle won his signature and Diame repeated his promotion-winning trick.
Hull’s instant drop back to the Football League was predictable, although they did put up a surprising fight given their meagre resources. But they haven’t been back.
Rob Green
A stalwart for six seasons at West Ham, Green left the Hammers in 2012 after their one-year purgatory in the Championship ended with play-off final glory.
The goalkeeper hopped across London to QPR, let in a howler on his debut, was promptly replaced by Julio Cesar and finished rock bottom.
Meanwhile, Sam Allardyce’s Hammers replaced him with pensioner Jussi Jaaskelainen and finished comfortably mid-table.
Nathan Ellington
Even considering their substantial backing by Dave Whelan, Wigan’s promotion in 2005 was the most unlikely of the Premier League era to date.
In an area saturated with football clubs, Wigan had always been a Rugby League town until Whelan’s millions and Nathan Ellington’s goals fired the Latics to the promised land.
Ellington’s 24 strikes meant his subsequent departure to West Brom was widely considered to have relegated Wigan.
But it was player, not the former club, who succumbed to the drop. Wigan finished a soaring 10th, while scored just five league goals in West Brom’s pained relegation season.
The Baggies wouldn’t even let Ellington return to Wigan after their demise. Meanies.
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