Transfer News: Tottenham Hotspur compete against Newcastle United for Sam Johnstone
According to The Sun, Tottenham Hotspur will face competition from Newcastle United to facilitate a transfer move for Sam Johnstone this summer. He is set to leave West Bromwich Albion, resulting in increased attention from several Premier League sides.
Johnstone is out-of-contract at the end of this season, and he has already expressed his intentions to leave to his manager Steve Bruce. Clubs have been made aware of the situation, and Tottenham have even contacted the shot-stopper regarding a potential move. That being said, Newcastle are now in the fray and would provide hefty competition for his services.
Spurs would find it difficult to finalise a transfer move for the Englishman. After all, they are also joined by West Ham United, Leicester City and Brighton and Hove Albion in the race right now. A transfer tussle is already underway, and Tottenham would need to be on their toes at all times to get their hands on the goalkeeper.
Can Spurs sign Johnstone?
Pierluigi Gollini is currently on loan at N17, and he deputised for Hugo Lloris as a second fiddle when required. However, Gollini has not impressed enough to warrant a permanent transfer, and Antonio Conte shares a similar opinion. Conte has told him that he is not in the boss’ plans for the next season, paving the way for his return to Atalanta.
Perhaps that is for the best as the North Londoners can reduce the expense by completing a move for Johnstone on a free transfer. Signing Gollini permanently would have been a hit on our budget, which is not the case with the Championship ace. Hence, the club would be wise to do their best to secure the West Brom keeper’s signature.
Facilitating a move would not be easy, with several other interested parties being in the transfer race. The Magpies, for example, are looking to build on their resurgence with the help of their new owners. That makes them an attractive prospect for a player like Johnstone to earn regular minutes as Newcastle could use a solid replacement for Martin Dubravka.
Fortunately, it is good to know that Johnstone is open to accepting a secondary role under the right circumstances. Perhaps, we can offer him just that with Conte searching for a backup option for Hugo Lloris. The skipper would probably start most league games and even the Champions League ones if we can guarantee that with a good result against Norwich City.
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Hence, Johnstone would still have the domestic cup competitions to play for while doing his best to pip Lloris from the starting spot. The 29-year-old is also looking to get more prominence in Gareth Southgate’s England national team, and perhaps the exposure from playing for Tottenham could help him in that regard.
All in all, Fabio Paratici would have several ways to work around the obstacles, but we have to wait and see if he can succeed in bringing the Baggies superstar to N17 this summer.
