Steve Bruce to meet with Jose Mourinho over Johnstone deal
Since his January loan arrival from Manchester United, no goalkeeper has kept more clean sheets in the Championship than Sam Johnstone.
The on-loan England youth international has been a big hit at Villa Park but is set to return to Old Trafford in the summer when his loan contract expires.
Steve Bruce, not content with Pierluigi Gollini between the sticks, will meet with Jose Mourinho in the near future to discuss a permanent transfer for Johnstone in the summer as Aston Villa seek a quality keeper to help their promotion bid next season.
The 24-year-old has been speaking about his time at the club and how he’s prepared for life at Villa Park:
I’ve really enjoyed it. It’s a massive club where you’re playing in front of 35,000 fans in every home game and taking huge amounts of supporters to away matches.
It has been a bit frustrating at times – when I first arrived it was difficult because we weren’t getting the results but there were also a lot of new players coming into the team and it took a bit of time to settle.
But I worked hard away from the games on the training pitch doing extra work, extra gym sessions and yoga too.
Then things started to turn around and get results so I’ve really enjoyed it. Everyone says it – but Villa truly is a massive club.
Bruce has sounded out the idea of keeping Johnstone with Mourinho and talks this week could be make or break for a summer transfer.