Manchester United goalkeeper Sam Johnstone is a loan target for new Aston Villa manager Steve Bruce, according to the Daily Mail.
The report claims Bruce is keen to strengthen his goalkeeping options following Villa’s shaky start to the Championship season and the former Manchester United centre-back has identified Johnstone as one of his key transfer targets for the January transfer window.
The newspaper goes on to suggest Mourinho rates the player highly, but wants him to leave on loan in order to get regular first-team football.
The 23-year-old is currently the third-choice goalkeeper at Old Trafford behind David De Gea and Sergio Romero and is yet to play a single game for the senior team this season.
Since signing a professional deal at Old Trafford in 2011, Johnstone has had loan spells at Scunthorpe, Walsall, Yeovil, Doncaster Rovers and Preston North End.
Johnstone is already 23 years old, but has never looked capable of establishing himself in United’s first team.
Even if Mourinho rates him highly, the best thing Johnstone could hope for is being second choice behind De Gea as Sergio Romero is Argentina’s first-choice goalkeeper and could decide to move on soon.
Joining Aston Villa on loan would be a good career move for Johnstone, but he should probably look to make a permanent move in order to kick-start his career.
He can’t really spend any more time waiting for the chance to start for United. It simply isn’t going to happen, as even if De Gea leaves the club, United would look to sign a top quality goalkeeper instead of giving Johnstone a chance.
