Sam Johnstone still has some way to go before justifying Aston Villa’s interest in permanent move

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Sam Johnstone has endured a mixed spell since arriving at Aston Villa on loan during the January transfer window.

Aston Villa’s Sam Johnstone

A look at Sam Johnstone’s spell since joining Aston Villa on loan during the January transfer window perhaps initially justifies why Steve Bruce wants to bring the Manchester United stopper in on a permanent basis this summer.

A report from the Daily Mail last month suggested that the Villans were hoping to sign the 24-year-old for £3 million, and it may have seemed like a smart piece of business for Villa to pursue when you consider that he has kept seven clean sheets in 19 games in all competitions.

But Johnstone arguably still has a lot to prove before he justifies being given the number one spot in a Villa side that will only have one goal next season: promotion back to the Premier League.

Firstly, it must be said that Johnstone deserves a huge amount of credit for the fact that he kept seven clean sheets in eight games between February and April after facing plenty of criticism during the early stages of his spell.

However, a closer look at some of the statistics since he arrived at Villa suggests that Johnstone has still been some way short of being the best goalkeeper in the Championship.

The table includes the players – who have made more than 10 appearances – who top the charts in certain areas since Johnstone made his Villa debut back in January, with Bartosz Bialkowski making the most saves per game, Daniel Bentley proving the most accurate distributor from throwing the ball out and Ali Al Habsi making the highest number of accurate goal kicks per game.

As the table shows, Johnstone is some way adrift of the leaders in each category which hints that Bruce may be making a mistake feeling that signing the stopper permanently in the summer and subsequently keeping him as number one will help deliver the promotion that Villa fans expect next term.

Aston Villa manager Steve Bruce