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Leeds United goalkeeper James Trafford has opened up about needing to leave Manchester City for the sake of his mental health after being unceremoniously overlooked by the club last season.
As City moved away from long-serving starter Ederson, they agreed a $36 million (£27 million) deal to bring back their former academy product from Burnley, only to sign Gianluigi Donnarumma less than six weeks later — a move that pushed Trafford straight back to the substitutes' bench.
The 24-year-old managed just four Premier League outings last campaign and told BBC Sport it was "horrendous" being forced to watch proceedings from the sidelines.
"You end up calling a lot of people and just letting it all out," he said. "Like most people, you have a rough day at work and you pick up the phone.
"I call my dad, I call my mum, I call my partner, I call my mates. I enjoy talking to my mates and we can just have a proper chat about everything. It's actually quite funny.
"I needed to play regularly this season for my own mental wellbeing. You just lose your sense of self when you're not playing. Maybe that's just me, I'm not sure, but the feeling of not featuring every week was absolutely horrendous.
"I simply had to play every week this season for that mental boost and to keep developing my career and moving closer to the goals I want to reach."
Did Man City Make the Right Choice With Donnarumma?
While Trafford is thriving away from City, the pressure remains firmly on Donnarumma, who has been responsible for several high-profile errors and has faced scrutiny over whether he suits Enzo Maresca's style of play.
Donnarumma may be an accomplished shot-stopper, but his distribution with his feet has never been his greatest strength. Trafford, by contrast, is comfortable in possession and appears to be the type of goalkeeper who would fit naturally into Maresca's system.
"He's quite composed in the sense that he acknowledges he has made some errors, but equally he has also produced some excellent saves," Maresca said recently. "It's simply about balance. Try to cut out the mistakes and keep doing the right things."
There were even suggestions last season that City, under Pep Guardiola, looked more solid defensively in the cup fixtures where Trafford featured, yet the continued reliance on Donnarumma left Trafford with little choice but to depart in the summer.
It seems highly unlikely that Trafford could have been persuaded to stay at City, who had already drawn considerable criticism for how they handled the young Englishman last season. The decision was made that Donnarumma — who unexpectedly entered the transfer market last year — represented the better option in their pursuit of a Premier League title, with Guardiola ruthlessly backing the move.
Guardiola's job was to win games, but Trafford's candid admission sheds light on the human cost that rarely gets discussed. "There were moments when I was really low, full of regret and feeling let down," the goalkeeper admitted, having gone from City's number one to an afterthought almost overnight.
City's loss is, however, very much Leeds' gain. The Yorkshire club appear to have secured their goalkeeper for the foreseeable future — or one who will command a substantial transfer fee — while City continue to grapple with Donnarumma's uneasy fit in Maresca's setup.