Manchester United goalkeeper Sam Johnstone was recently given a one-year contract extension at the club. He is currently on loan at Aston Villa where he is churning out excellent displays.
“I really began to get into the groove of playing for Villa towards the back end of last season, and that carried over into this season,” he reflected. “I came in and endured a tough start and losing games to putting in good performances and winning plenty of matches.
“For me, it’s always been about being somewhere where you can play football and have that continuity, which is great. Performance wise, it’s the best season of my career. It’s the most amount of games I’ve played in a season and the only campaign in which I’ll have played every game if I keep going how I am.”
“That’s new for me. And I have to thank Gary Walsh and the other goalkeepers here for helping me every single day and preparing me to go out on a Saturday and perform. There’s a lot of people in the background helping out all the lads, who deserve a lot of credit.”
However, when quizzed on his future with his Villa loan deal expiring in May, the player remained coy.
“I enjoy it here. I love playing football here and training every day,” Johnstone added. “But the truth is I’ve not spoken to anyone about it as of yet. My plan is to finish off this season and then see what Manchester United and Aston Villa’s position is on the matter.”
“I want to keep playing football. I’m enjoying the number of games I’m playing. The Premier League is where you want to be week in week out. I’d love it for this club to be a part of that next season and for many years to come. Hopefully, we can all keep performing at a good level for the rest of the season and make that happen.”
“At the moment, though, it’s very much a case of I’ve not spoken to anyone at United and we’ll see in the summer. But I do want to carry on playing as much football as possible. I want that continuity. I had it from the end of last season into this season and I don’t want it to stop now. I want it to continue into the next campaign. That’s where I stand on it.”
It remains to be seen what will happen. However, given the fact that United are planning on keeping De Gea, Johnstone is unlikely to get game time at Old Trafford. Moreover, at Aston Villa, he has developed a chemistry with his teammates and manager Steve Bruce that has seen him shine.
He should first and foremost consider accepting a permanent move to Villa to commit to the club whole-heartedly. However, the choice to leave United could be a hard one and maybe the player can extend his loan deal at Villa, for now, to see where things lead at the end of next season.
What he should not do at all is going back to United to play as a back-up and end up losing his good form.
