Aston Villa clinched a 1-0 win over Leeds United in their latest fixture in the Championship and are placed at the 4th spot in the league table with 79 points to their name from 43 games. The Villans have been really commendable under the tutelage of Steve Bruce this season and despite the fact that an automatic qualification spot seems to be out of their grasp, they are set to test their luck in the playoffs.
Thus, promotion to the Premier League is a gettable target for Bruce’s men and one of the players who has excelled incredibly this season has been their 25-year-old shot-stopper, Sam Johnstone. On loan from Manchester United, Johnstone has been the undisputed first-choice custodian for Aston Villa this season and he has managed to garner 19 clean sheets from 43 appearances.
He has made 2.47 saves per game on an average and has managed to earn very positive reviews for his displays. Interestingly, the goalkeeper has revealed that he will be happy to make a permanent switch to the Villa Park in the summer transfer window from Old Trafford if Aston Villa manage to clinch their promotion to the top flight.
The former England U20 international emerged through the youth ranks of the Red Devils but couldn’t cement his place in their senior side. He was shipped out on loan to sides such as Preston North End and Doncaster Rovers but his contributions started to get noticed after his move to Aston Villa in the January transfer window of 2017.
Johnstone’s apparent willingness to leave Manchester United makes a lot of sense. David de Gea’s place in the starting XI under Jose Mourinho seems to be untouchable at the moment as the Spanish international is undoubtedly one of the best goalkeepers amongst the current crop all over the world. Besides, the former Chelsea manager also has Sergio Romero and Joel Pereira at his disposal which implies that Johnstone might not be able to break into Manchester United’s starting line-up anytime soon.
According to one of the reports by Daily Mail, Aston Villa have to dish out £5million to sign Johnstone permanently in the summer and frankly speaking, it will be a shrewd deal for Bruce’s side. The Manchester United loanee has been quite consistent under the bar since January 2017 and given that he is still young, he will only develop in the coming seasons.
Statistics Credits: Squawka
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