Aston Villa have been linked with a swoop for Manchester United goalkeeper Sam Johnstone.
Aston Villa owner Dr Tony Xia
Aston Villa owner Tony Xia has taken to Twitter to shoot down reports suggesting that Manchester United goalkeeper Sam Johnstone is a target for the club.
Johnstone, 23, has been on the books at United since the age of just ten, but has still yet to make his debut for the Red Devils having been farmed out to a whole host of clubs in recent years.
Manchester United’s Sam Johnstone warms up
Johnstone’s best spell came on loan with his hometown club Preston North End, where he helped the Lilywhites achieve promotion to the Championship in 2015 with a host of impressive displays.
Whilst Johnstone did return to Deepdale for a short loan spell in January of this year, but largely lost a season as he failed to break into Louis van Gaal’s first team.
Sam Johnstone during his time at Preston North End
This term has been much of the same for Johnstone, and many expected him to leave at the end of his contract next summer – but on Sunday, he surprisingly signed a new contract with the club.
That may just be insurance against losing Johnstone next summer, with the contract now meaning that they can demand a fee for him – particularly important given that he was being linked with a move away from Old Trafford.
Aston Villa owner Dr Tony Xia
A report from the Daily Mail last week suggested that new Aston Villa boss Steve Bruce was keen to lure Johnstone to Villa Park, despite having goalkeeping options at his disposal already in Mark Bunn and summer signing Pierluigi Gollini.
Owner Tony Xia has this evening taken to Twitter to discuss the rumours, stating that Bruce hasn’t mentioned any move for Johnstone, and questioned just why Villa would even sign a young goalkeeper given that they landed Gollini over the summer.
Would you have liked to see Villa move for Johnstone?
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