West Brom should steer clear of reunion with Sam Johnstone as transfer news breaks
When news broke that West Brom were interested in signing Crystal Palace goalkeeper Sam Johnstone, many fans would have double-checked the timestamp attached to check it wasn’t some deluded fantasy.
The ex-Baggies goalkeeper, who left the club for the Eagles last summer, is reportedly back on the club’s summer wishlist if they were to get promoted to the Premier League this season.
Alan Nixon shared (19 March) that both West Brom and Sheffield United have Johnstone in their sights and that Crystal Palace, who have just hired Roy Hodgson as manager, would take up to £6million for his services.
Without promotion, neither club could reportedly afford the 29-year-old, who wore the Baggies top 167 times during his four-year stint at The Hawthorns.
And although some fans might be intrigued by the fantasy of a glittery reunion with Johnstone, the reality is that they already have a brilliant goalkeeper in Alex Palmer, who has not put a foot wrong all season.
Prior to Palmer’s injury, which has seen him miss the last month and a half of action in the Championship, the Baggies were one of the toughest defences in the league, at one point not conceding a goal from open play in over 12 hours and looking like a shoo-in for a playoff spot.
However, as soon as the 26-year-old is out of sight on The Hawthorns pitch, he is seemingly out of mind for the club’s hierarchy.
The drastic improvements Palmer has made this season are plain for all to see – and it feels like the goalkeeper has come a long way from being a perennial afterthought in the early days of Steve Bruce’s era.
Palmer has been a calming presence in between the sticks for West Brom this season, and if the club do pull off a remarkable promotion, he deserves his crack of the whip in the Premier League.
Johnstone is a tried and tested formula for the club that was by no means a failure, but it feels like the club has moved on since his summer exit.
The club look to be going places in the future under the guidance of Corberan, and Palmer should be given a chance to carry on his fine work in the number one shirt.
In other West Brom News, the club are open to takeover offers as they away Lai paying back his £5m loan.