Done deal: Man Utd officially confirm exit, touted £6.5m transfer sealed

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Man Utd have officially confirmed that goalkeeper Sam Johnstone has left the club to join West Bromwich Albion in a permanent deal.

The 25-year-old spent the last two seasons out on loan at Aston Villa as he impressed for Steve Bruce’s side having made 48 appearances in all competitions last year.

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However, Villa are now facing a very difficult summer after failing to secure promotion back to the Premier League last season, losing to Fulham in the playoff final at Wembley.

In turn, that has seen them miss out on signing Johnstone on a permanent deal, with Man Utd confirming in an official statement that the shot-stopper has now moved on to the Hawthorns instead.

Further, The Sun claim that the deal will set the Baggies back £6.5m, although boss Darren Moore will surely be delighted to bring in a top goalkeeper capable of offering reliability and quality between the posts with a huge portion of his career still ahead of him.

It also seems like a sensible move from Johnstone’s perspective, as with David De Gea and Sergio Romero well established as the top two choices for Jose Mourinho at Man Utd, the last thing that he would have wanted would be to sit on the bench at Old Trafford again after impressing at Villa.

Instead, he’ll now look to play a key role in getting West Brom back up to the Premier League after their relegation last season, with Moore undoubtedly impressing in his short spell in charge in the top flight which offers hope moving forward.

Mourinho also looks like he’s made his own plans too, with The Mirror noting that the Red Devils have swooped for veteran goalkeeper Lee Grant to fill the void as third choice at Man Utd.

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