Cumbrian star James Trafford paid a heartfelt tribute to his family after making his big Premier League move.
The goalkeeper is starting life at Burnley after a multi-million pound transfer from Manchester City.
And the 20-year-old from Greysouthen says he would not have made the progress he has without the backing of his family.
He was joined by parents James and Alison and sister Charlotte as he signed his contract at Turf Moor.
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“They were the main part of why I’m here today and a professional footballer,” Trafford said.
“I moved away from home at 12 but still came home every week, my mum had to drive me at ridiculous hours down to Manchester or to train stations.
“They’re the biggest part of why I’m here today.”
Trafford, who grew up a Cumbrian farm, joined Manchester City from Carlisle United’s academy and then rose through the ranks at the Premier League champions.
He is now preparing for life in the top-flight with Vincent Kompany’s debut, following a summer when he starred for England’s Under-21s in their European Championships victory.
Trafford, who made his Burnley debut in a 2-0 pre-season defeat to KRC Genk, went on to tell the Clarets’ official channels that he hopes his move will help him fulfil his full international ambitions with England.
“Personally I want to improve as much as I can and eventually get called up to the England squad,” he said.
“As a team I want to take it a day at a time and try and achieve as much as I can.
“[At Burnley over the years] they’ve had [Nick] Pope, [Tom] Heaton, [Joe] Hart – a lot of England internationals.
“It’s a good platform to play well and if you play well, hopefully [I can] get called up to the senior squad.”
Trafford, who became Cumbria’s most expensive footballer after he moved for a reported £15m rising to £19m, said he feels he can develop “massively” under Kompany and his staff at Turf Moor.
“The manager told me how they worked, how he sees me panning out and it was quite a good fun conversation to be honest,” he said of recent talks with Kompany.
And on his decision to leave City, he added: “It wasn’t really too tough – over the past two seasons I’ve been out on loan, so I haven’t really been in the building much.
“They knew it’s what I wanted to do and they were fine with it.”
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