Aston Villa recently signed Sam Johnstone on a season-long loan deal from Manchester United and was thrown into the lineup as the Villans faced Tottenham Hotspur in the F.A Cup last time out.
Johnstone was impressive in his debut game for the Midlands outfit and will be hoping to bring some glory to his new club. However, will he be a success with an already resurgent Aston Villa side?
Ever since Steve Bruce took over the reins of Aston Villa from Roberto Di Matteo, the club has witnessed a transformation from a team that always looked like relegation candidates to a side who are just 7 points off the play-off positions.
With an impressive seven victories and four draws in 14 league matches, Villa is evidently tough to beat. However, Bruce’s side have still conceded 12 goals in those 14 games and have only managed to keep three clean sheets.
Despite the summer signing of Pierluigi Gollini from Verona, Aston Villa have not looked solid at the back. Bruce has also utilised reserve goalkeeper, Harry Bunn, but his showings on the pitch prompted the former Hull City boss to recruit Sam Johnstone.
Johnstone himself sees the move as a step in the right direction for his career as he will be playing under an experienced manager.
Bruce supports the move as he believes that Johnstone has all the attributes to succeed and help Aston Villa’s cause.
Having stated that he will only allow players to leave if the move suits the club, Jose Mourinho must believe that Aston Villa is the right destination for the young goalkeeper.
As stated, Johnstone went straight into the starting XI against Tottenham, and despite conceding two goals, against a high-quality Tottenham side, Johnstone had pundits and fans alike singing his praises.
The goalkeeper looked assured, commanding and not fazed by the players he came up against. In fact, he relished the challenge well and denied Tottenham on five occasions to keep the score down to just 2-0.
There is no doubt that the youngster will be looking to play week in and week out, rather than being a fringe player.
With under fire goalkeeper Gollini already on his way out of Villa Park to join Serie A side Atalanta on an 18-month loan deal, the number one spot is Johnstone’s to lose. Highly rated at his parent club, by his new manager and by fans after his debut; Johnstone is a recipe for success.
