Back-up goalkeeper Sam Johnstone has signed a new contract with Manchester United.
According to The Sun, Johnstone’s new deal ties him down until the summer of 2018.
The Sun also report that Johnstone has been on the books at Old Trafford for over a decade, having joined the club as a ten-year-old.
Now 23, Johnstone has still yet to make his senior debut for United, despite being on the bench for the first six games of last season while David de Gea’s future was in the balance.
With De Gea staying at United – and with Sergio Romero also ahead of him in the pecking order – it seems as though Johnstone is a million miles away from Jose Mourinho’s first team.
However, he recently told ManUtd.com that he feels like he is in a good position.
He said: “I don’t think there’s any difference between me and, say, Marcus [Rashford] and Jesse [Lingard].
“They want to play for Manchester United. I want to play for Manchester United. I’m going to have to bide my time a little bit, being in a position where I’ve got one of the best goalkeepers in the world ahead of me but I will use that to my advantage and learn from it.
“Of course, it is even more difficult as a keeper and people don’t seem to properly understand that. You’ve got one position in the team and that is taken up by a world-class player. I’ve been learning from him since he first came and training with him every day, and the coaches and Sergio [Romero], is only helping me.
“To be honest, I’ve always said that being on loan and working with different goalkeeping coaches also gives you different ideas to take on board. Some work and some don’t but I’ve always learned something from each coach and put it into my own game. It’s a good position to be working with different coaches as you can learn as much as possible from them, particularly with ex-players.”
Johnstone has had loan spells at Preston North End, Doncaster Rovers, Yeovil Town, Walsall and Scunthorpe United.
He has also represented England at U16, U17, U19 and U20 levels.