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The Mirror reports that Aston Villa want to convert their current loan of Manchester United keeper Sam Johnstone into a permanent deal in January. The goalkeeper has re-joined the Birmingham club this season, after spending the second half of last season on loan there, and has impressed manager Steve Bruce who wants him to sign a permanent contract in January.
The former England under-21 International is behind David de Gea and several other keepers at Old Trafford, but is regarded as first choice at Villa, with Bruce claiming “it would be great to keep him here for the next few years as Villa’s No. 1”.
24 year-old Johnstone has never played a minute of Premier League football but, despite this, is highly rated by United manager Jose Mourinho, who refused to sell him in the summer, against the backdrop of reported interest from Everton and Bournemouth. It remains to be seen how keen he will be to hang on the player if Villa do bid for him when the transfer window opens again.
Andy is an exiled English football fan living in Cyprus. He loves all sports but football is his abiding passion, and he still has dreams every now and then about scoring the winning goal in a Wembley Cup Final, even though his playing days are long gone. He follows most major leagues, across Europe at least, and has a favoured team in each. When he’s not watching, listening, reading or downloading podcasts about football, he spend his time worrying about his beloved Arsenal.