Manchester United has wrapped up the signing of Stoke City custodian Lee Grant and as a result, they have let go of Sam Johnstone who joined West Bromwich Albion for a fee of £6.5m. The 25-year-old custodian had spent the last season on loan with Aston Villa where he almost saw them go through to the Premier League.
West Brom seems set to part ways with Ben Foster who has generated interest from Watford and Darren Moore has already solved that problem by bringing in Johnstone. The 25-year-old didn’t make any senior team appearance for Manchester United in his close to seven-year stay at the club.
United already have the services of David De Gea and Sergio Romero so it was highly unlikely that Johnstone will get anywhere close to first team opportunities. At 25, a player will expect to play and start week in week out which Jose Mourinho couldn’t have guaranteed to the English stopper. They are likely to send their young goalkeeping option Joel Pereira on loan and Lee Grant is set to be the third choice at Old Trafford.
Foster hasn’t gone on a pre-season training camp with the Baggies squad so signing a goalkeeper would have been important for Darren Moore and he has done just that by bringing in Johnstone at the club.
Darren Moore did exceptionally well when he took charge of the club in the latter half of the season, however, his real trial will start in the upcoming season in the Championship as he will be expected to guide the Baggies back to the Premier League.
Foster has been a loyal servant at the Hawthorns for quite some time now. The 35-year-old has been at the club since 2012 and he is certainly good enough to play in the top division even at the age of 35. The club board and management team would have been worried about seeing their veteran custodian leave but now they have an able option in Johnstone who can be the no. 1 between the sticks for quite a long time.
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The 25-year-old Johnstone had an impressive season as he kept 20 clean sheets for Aston Villa last season and seems to have all the facets to his game in order to be successful in the Championship. He came close to qualifying with Villans and it will be interesting to see whether he will be able to go one step further with his new team.
