Sam Johnstone has been touted as a target for Sunderland in recent days
Sunderland have wasted no time in making their mark on the summer transfer market.
With a little under two months left to go before the window closes, the Black Cats have already wrapped up permanent deals for Enzo Le Fée, Habib Diarra, Noah Sadiki, Reinildo Mandava, and Chemsdine Talbi - who was unveiled on Wednesday afternoon. Meanwhile, a deal for Brighton and Hove Albion winger Simon Adingra is said to be in the offing, while several other players continue to be linked.
Amongst those touted have been a couple of high profile goalkeeping targets in the form of Marcin Bulka and Djordje Petrovic, but with the former heading to Saudi Arabia and the latter seemingly keen on a move to Bournemouth, a recent report from The Sun has suggested that Sunderland could turn their attention to Wolves stopper Sam Johnstone.
The national outlet claim that the Black Cats want to bring in a player capable of competing with current number one Anthony Patterson for game time, with the understanding being that newly-appointed goalkeeper coach Neil Cuttler is a big fan of Johnstone, who he has worked with on multiple occasions during stints with the likes of Wolves and fellow Midlands outfit Aston Villa.
It is stated that a loan could be on the cards, given the fact that Johnstone has three years left on his current deal at Molineux, while various reports from elsewhere have suggested that Johnstone could be a candidate for an exit this summer.
And while there remains no concrete indication as to where the England international will be playing his football next season, he may already have dropped a significant hint about his desire to seek out regular first team minutes over the coming weeks and months.
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What has Sam Johnstone said about his future amid ongoing Sunderland transfer links?
To that end, Johnstone has not directly addressed his future, but it is worth noting that he has expressed his views on the notion of a club having two first choice-calibre goalkeepers on their books.
Speaking on an episode of Fozcast, he said: “You look at a lot of clubs having two number ones. It’s a recipe for disaster, I’ll be honest with you. It’s great, obviously you’ve got two really good goalkeepers. But two goalkeepers who actually want to play every single game every week. At some point it’s going to crash isn’t it?”
Johnstone’s comments come within the context of his current situation at Wolves, where he has soundly lost his place to Portuguese star Jose Sa, and has not started a Premier League match since mid-December of last year.
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