Manchester United goalkeeper Sam Johnstone says he is still unsure which direction his career is going. David De Gea’s uncertain future is giving great hope to the 22-year-old, who was tipped to start for United in their first game of the season against Spurs. However, with 4 international goalkeepers to contend with, the United academy graduate could choose to join Preston on loan or permanently in order to play more games.
“I’m not sure. Nothing’s been said really,” said Johnstone. “We’re waiting on different situations and have to see how it pans out.”
Victor Valdes and Anders Lindegaard have both been told they can leave Manchester United, and assuming De Gea leaves, Johnstone could be a real contender for United’s No 1 shirt. But the Englishman remains realistic on his options:
“I need to play games but on the other hand I am contracted here to Manchester United so I have to see what happens here first.”
“I finished last season on a high playing [for Preston] in the play-off final at Wembley with my hometown club, so I need to kick on from that but hopefully if I am involved a lot I can still learn here. And if I wasn’t getting the game time here then I could go on loan later in the season. That’s another possibility so we will have to see what happens.”
Preston manger Simon Grayson said he would wait for Johnstone, something the keeper admired:
“Yeah, I appreciated that they waited until last weekend. They had to bring someone in because they had their first game on Sunday.” Johnstone said. “But if I get the chance to go out on loan I would still like to go back.”
Asked if his lack of knowledge on the situation affected him, the No 50 replied:
“No, it doesn’t cause problems, we just carry on. The manager has said that David has gone about his business in the right way. And we stick together. Whoever plays, the other keepers are behind him. And you have to realise that we are working with the goalkeeper who is going to play to prepare him for the game. We are friends but there is a healthy rivalry.”
“They may have individual problems but they don’t bring them to the training with us. You just have to concentrate on yourself. But no, they are not letting anything affect the other goalkeepers.”
Johnstone added he knew on Thursday, two days before the Spurs match, that Romero would start.
“It was a difficult decision for the manager – he said it to everyone. But he obviously knew who was going to play. And we found out on Thursday.”
“I’ve said it before, you’ve always got to be ready.. I’ve been at the club since I was 10 so it would be a dream come true to play in the first team. I felt I didn’t do too bad on the pre-season tour but I was supportive of Sergio when he was selected. I played in all four games on the tour and thought I did well but the manager has gone with his decision and you have got to respect that. Like I said, I was fully behind Sergio. He has not had long to settle in but I thought he played well. It is not easy, no matter how much experience he has got, to come in. He’s only been with us for two weeks, not played a game, but had to go into the first home game of the season at Old Trafford. I thought he did well.”
[All quotes are sourced directly from the Guardian]