Sam Johnstone could still leave Crystal Palace before Thursday’s transfer deadline – with Nottingham Forest a potential destination.
That is according to Alex Crook.
So, what is the latest on Sam Johnstone at Crystal Palace? Let’s take a look…
Sam Johnstone could leave Crystal Palace
Well – according to Crook of talkSPORT – the England international is “one to keep an eye on” ahead of Thursday night’s transfer deadline.
The Chief Football Correspondent for talkSPORT wrote on X (previously known as Twitter): “As mentioned here, wouldn’t rule out Nottingham Forest signing Sam Johnstone before Thursday’s transfer deadline. One to keep an eye on.”
Dean Henderson has recently shoved the £43,000-a-week man down the pecking order under Roy Hodgson.
Johnstone suffered an injury during the 2-1 defeat to Liverpool at Selhurst Park, which paved the way for his fellow England international to take the No.1 spot for himself.
Before that, the 30-year-old had made 16 Premier League appearances for Crystal Palace this season, keeping five clean sheets.
Crystal Palace surely won’t sell Sam Johnstone
In our view, there is no way Johnstone leaves SE25 before Thursday’s deadline.
Henderson is a fairly injury prone goalkeeper – the Crystal Palace No.30 missed a large chunk of the campaign earlier this season after damaging his thigh on his debut at Old Trafford.
Therefore, selling Johnstone would run the risk of having Remi Matthews or the inexperienced Joe Whitworth in between the sticks during a relegation battle – which is far from ideal.
Perhaps the Crystal Palace No.1 may look to depart in the summer if he cannot oust Henderson from the starting XI – for now, however, we highly doubt a January exit will materialise.
Nevertheless, be sure to keep an eye on transfer developments at Selhurst Park, as the signing of Adam Wharton from Blackburn should soon be announced.
