Tottenham Hotspur are now ramping up their interest in signing West Bromwich Albion goalkeeper Sam Johnstone after shelving a January deal.
That’s according to the Daily Mail, who claim that Tottenham are set to revive their move to sign Johnstone this summer.
It’s stated that Johnstone was being lined up to join Tottenham in January but they delayed finalising the deal in favour of other signings.
In came Dejan Kulusevski and Rodrigo Bentancur instead, with a winger and midfielder taking priority over a new goalkeeper.
Yet with loanee Pierluigi Gollini unlikely to stay at Tottenham, Spurs are back in for a new stopper.
Johnstone is seen as the prime target and Tottenham are ready to revive their interest in the hope of winning the race.
Tottenham aren’t alone in chasing Johnstone though. Newcastle United, West Ham United, Southampton and Rangers all want to sign him too.
Rangers see Johnstone as the long-term heir to Allan McGregor whilst Premier League clubs seemingly view him as competition.
Johnstone isn’t going to snatch the number one jersey from Hugo Lloris any time soon and would probably struggle to displace Lukasz Fabianski too.
So why is Johnstone attracting so much interest ahead of the summer window?
The 29-year-old is a free agent this summer and will be leaving West Brom given that he has no intention of staying put.
Johnstone excelled in the Premier League last season and was branded ‘outstanding’ by former Tottenham legend Glenn Hoddle.
To sign that kind of player for free would be very appealing, and Tottenham may well feel confident of beating Rangers in the race given their groundwork for Johnstone in January.
Rangers’ glimmer of hope is that Johnstone wants to be first-choice somewhere; after all, he needs to be playing to get into the England squad again.
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