Do Joe Lewis links suggest Aston Villa are fighting losing battle over Sam Johnstone?

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Steve Bruce wants to keep Manchester United loanee Sam Johnstone – but Aston Villa have now reportedly identified Joe Lewis as a potential target .

Aston Villa manager Steve Bruce has made no secret of his desire to sign Sam Johnstone on a permanent basis from Manchester United at the earliest possibility.

The 24-year-old moved to Villa Park in the ninth loan spell of his short career in the January transfer window and, after making an excellent impression, extended his stay in the Midlands until the end of the 2017/18 season.

Bruce, however, hopes that Johnstone will stick around even longer than that.

“It would be great to keep him here for the next few years as Villa’s No1. I will need to ask the question. The ideal move for us would be to buy him in January,” Bruce was quoted by The Sun as saying about the Preston-born goalkeeper, who has never made a senior appearance for Man United.

“You’ve seen it, a young goalkeeper coming in and getting better with every game he plays. The difference in him since he’s started in January to now is light years. He’s confident, playing every week and he’s playing real football.”

Johnstone’s contract at Old Trafford expires in 2018 and, following huge interest from a number of clubs over the summer, Villa know that they cannot afford to wait around to tie the highly-rated shot-stopper down.

Alternative option

Consequently, the Scottish Sun report that Bruce is keeping his long-term options open – and Villa’s latest transfer target suggests that they are planning for life without Johnstone at the club.

The report claims that Villa sent scout Tony Cotton to watch Aberdeen goalkeeper Joe Lewis keep his fourth clean sheet in five games in Saturday’s 1-0 win away at Hibernian.

Lewis has been arguably the best goalkeeper in Scotland since moving from Cardiff City in 2016, edging out Celtic’s Craig Gordon in the SPFA Team of the Year. The 30-year-old, who has plenty of Championship experience, may not come cheap, however, having only signed a new contract with Aberdeen until 2020 in the summer.

It makes sense, however, for Bruce to identify alternative targets with Johnstone’s long-term future up in the air.