Villa ready £3m bid for Sam Johnstone
Villa want to sign goalkeeper Sam Johnstone from Manchester United in a permanent deal.
Johnstone has been on loan from Old Trafford since January and boss Steve Bruce has already stated his desire to keep the 24-year-old around next season.
Discussions are set to begin with Bruce hopeful of persuading United boss Jose Mourinho to let the keeper move to Villa Park on a permanent basis, for a fee of around £3million.
Johnstone has recovered from a shaky start at Villa to keep five clean sheets in his last six games and though he is highly-rated at Old Trafford, signing a new contract in October, he is currently behind David De Gea and Sergio Romero in the pecking order. Villa can offer the carrot of regular first-team football and are eager to get a deal completed quickly, with a number of Premier League clubs also keeping tabs on the goalkeeper’s situation.
Defender Neil Taylor meanwhile faces the possibility of a five-game ban from international football for the tackle which left Ireland’s Seamus Coleman with a double leg break. FIFA’s disciplinary committee will decide the length of the Wales international’s suspension following his red card during Friday’s World Cup qualifier.
