Wolves closing in on £10million move for Crystal Palace goalkeeper Sam Johnstone
Wolves are closing in on the £10million signing of former West Brom goalkeeper Sam Johnstone after cooling their interest in Arsenal's Aaron Ramsdale.
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Head coach Gary O'Neil has switched focus from one England international to another after failing to reach an agreement with the Gunners to sign Ramsdale.
Wolves wanted to take Ramsdale on loan and were prepared to include a £20million obligation to buy in the deal. But talks between the clubs have failed to progress as hoped in recent days.
Instead, Wolves now look poised to seal the £10m capture of Johnstone from Crystal Palace on a deal until 2028.
The 31-year-old shot stopper has played for Palace since 2022, competing with Dean Henderson for the No.1 jersey, but is yet to play for Palace this season.
And Palace boss Oliver Glasner revealed Johnstone wanted to leave Selhurst Park ahead of Tuesday evening's Carabao Cup tie against Norwich City.
“Sam told us he wants to leave, and so if he finds a club he can leave,” Glasner said. “And that, of course, is not the best situation to get a start.”
Prior to his move to London, Johnstone had 18 months on loan at Villa from Manchester United before enjoying four years at The Hawthorns after a permanent move to Albion.
He was part of the promotion-winning side of 2019/20 before being relegated back to the Championship a year later.
During that time he won the first of four England caps.
His arrival will leave the futures of Jose Sa and Dan Bentley up in the air – the pair had been expected to depart Molineux had Ramsdale arrived from Arsenal.
O’Neil is eager to bring in players to strengthen his squad and would ideally like to add another defender and attacker.
Wolves held talks with Burnley over former Albion centre-back Dara O’Shea before the latter moved to Ipswich, while they have also been speaking to the Clarets about winger Luca Koleosho.
O’Neil has seen Max Kilman and Pedro Neto leave this summer for combined fees of nearly £100m but only a portion of that money will be reinvested this summer.
Speaking after Sunday’s 6-2 home defeat to Chelsea, O’Neil said: “It’s an important week coming up for the players and the club. Everyone knows the financial restrictions that we have... but we have raised some good funds in this window and the players need some help.”
