Manchester United intend to keep goalkeeper Sam Johnstone at the club.
According to the Daily Mail, Manchester United are set to activate a one-year option on goalkeeper Sam Johnstone’s contract to prevent him from leaving for free next summer.
Johnstone, 24, has come up through the ranks at Old Trafford having joined as a teenager, but he has still yet to make his first-team debut for the Red Devils.
Steve Bruce and Jose Mourinho
The goalkeeper has mostly been farmed out on loan, having featured for Scunthorpe United, Walsall, Yeovil Town, Doncaster Rovers and hometown club Preston North End before spending 2017 on loan with Aston Villa.
Johnstone started slowly with Villa but has excelled for the majority of his stay at Villa Park, and whilst manager Steve Bruce may be keen to keep Johnstone permanently, the chances of that have taken a blow.
The Daily Mail report that Manchester United are set to activate a one-year option in Johnstone’s contract, keeping him at Old Trafford for another year given that his deal was set to expire this coming summer.
Johnstone could have left United for free at the end of the season, but will now have his future tied to the Red Devils until 2019 – though whether he will ever make his debut under Jose Mourinho remains to be seen.
With David De Gea and Sergio Romero already at Mourinho’s disposal, Johnstone is fighting a tough battle at Old Trafford, and Villa may still hope to sign him permanently, even if it now means paying a fee to land him rather than signing him for nothing.
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