Wolverhampton Wanderers (Wolves) are reportedly pursuing Sam Johnstone from Crystal Palace. This comes after rumours of Aaron Ramsdale’s transfer to Wolves emerged, which now seems less likely.
Wolves end their pursuit of Aaron Ramsdale and move closer to Sam Johnstone
Negotiations over a fee of £10 million
David Ornstein has revealed that Wolves are “close to reaching an agreement with Crystal Palace for their current second goalkeeper”. Negotiations are targeting a transfer fee of around £10 million, which seems a cheap deal for an experienced player who started 22 games last season.
The England international is set to sign a long-term four-year deal until 2028, which may seem a little excessive given his age of 31. His current manager Oliver Glasner revealed that the player “told us he wanted to leave” after failing to play a single minute so far this season. Dean Henderson appears to have pushed out the Manchester United Academy graduate.
Aaron Ramsdale to Wolves?
This potential signing would certainly put an end to Wolves’ pursuit of a Ramsdale transfer. Gary O’Neil obviously wants a new number one as they are very interested in the Arsenal goalkeeper and Johnstone is a very capable player.
While it seems odd that Old Gold would displace Jose Sa with this potential transfer, it seems likely that Johnstone is the alternative to Ramsdale, with Wolves wanting a loan with an option to buy while Arsenal want a signing.
It would be even stranger if they signed Johnstone and Ramsdale while Sa is still at the club. It would be unlikely they would move on from the 26-year-old before deadline day. However, his exit from the Emirates still seems imminent as Mikel Arteta tries to secure the signature of Joan Garcia.
