West Brom reject West Ham bid to sign Sam Johnstone
West Ham have seen a bid for goalkeeper Sam Johnstone rejected by West Brom, according to The Athletic journalist David Ornstein.
Writing on The Athletic website, Ornstein reports that the Baggies want over £10million for the 28-year-old but the Irons have offered “considerably below that figure”.
It is understood the Hammers are unlikely to offer much more for Johnstone, who is out of contract next summer and also attracting attention from Arsenal and Tottenham.
That’s not enough
Johnstone may be in the final year of his contract but there’s no way West Brom are going to accept less than £10million for someone who was so impressive for them last season and has also become an England international in recent months.
No goalkeeper made more saves than Johnstone in the Premier League last season [Wyscout] and while that is partially down to how bad West Brom’s defence was, some of the saves the ex-Manchester United man made were world-class.
Gary Lineker hailed one of his saves as “unbelievable” and “sensational” last season on Twitter as the shot-stopper did everything he could to stop the West Midlands club being relegated from the Premier League.
West Brom’s drop to the Championship and Johnstone’s contract situation does reduce his value but the strength of his performances, coupled with a debut England cap that saw him produce a stunning save against Romania, means that he’s still worth a fair bit of money.
According to Ornstein, the failed bid for Johnstone strengthens our pursuit of Paris Saint-Germain goalkeeper Alphonse Areola.
At least he’s a very good goalkeeper too and we’d be more than happy with the Frenchman challenging Lukasz Fabianski for the number one spot next season.
In other West Ham news, ExWHUemployee has shared what the club has told him about Areola.
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