Over the past month, Crystal Palace have quietly had a changing of the guard in goal with Dean Henderson thriving in Sam Johnstone’s absence.
The goalkeeping situation at Crystal Palace is one which unlike other parts of the team is actually a well-stocked position.
Sam Johnstone came into this season as the number one and has often in his career been a really underrated keeper.
However, the club brought Dean Henderson in last summer for a fee of just £15m.
Johnstone was the number one for much of this season despite this, but as he has been out now through injury, Henderson has taken his place and has been thriving.
There are now a few factors which could suggest Johnstone might’ve already played his final game for Palace, so here they are.
Dean Henderson’s Palace form could see Johnstone unneeded
Henderson has played just five games in a row now beginning on the 16th of December. In this game, he was incredible in a 2-2 draw against Manchester City.
He made seven saves and prevented 1.81 goals according to SofaScore, which gained a vital point for Palace.
The Englishman was also brilliant against Brighton and Brentford in the league. He also picked up a clean sheet against Everton in the FA Cup.
He has played his part in a slight improvement in form for Palace although it’s still not great. But this form could mean that Johnstone is seen as a disposable player in the summer or even January.
Sam Johnstone could potentially be sold
The £40k-a-week keeper has been a top keeper throughout his career and now he’s being linked with a departure from Palace to another Premier League side.
Wolves have been credited with interest in the Palace keeper recently with The Sun reporting in December that Johnstone was viewed as a replacement for Jose Sa.
Sa has been linked with a move to Nottingham Forest and so Wolves in that case would be searching for a replacement.
Another club who’ve been linked with a move for Johnstone is Newcastle United who are keen to bring in a keeper to cope with the absence of Nick Pope.
Daily Star reported this in early December, saying that Johnstone was preferred to the likes of David de Gea.
It’s unlikely Palace would fight a move too hard given they already have Henderson performing well in that position.
