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‘Right up there’: Leeds-linked £6.5m star’s boss says he’s ‘one of the best’ in his position
Reported Leeds United target Sam Johnstone is “one of the best” goalkeepers in the Premier League at present, according to Sam Allardyce.
According to a report in , the Whites are keeping tabs on the West Brom stopper, who has made the most saves in the English top flight this season – .
The Baggies signed Johnstone in the summer of 2018, after they had been relegated to the Championship, from Manchester United for a reported .
Although the 27-year-old’s time at The Hawthorns hasn’t been without the odd criticism, he has taken superbly to life back in the top flight, keeping his side with relative reach of safety.
On Sunday, Johnstone was especially outstanding as he helped West Brom to a 1-1 draw against reigning champions Liverpool, keeping out Roberto Firmino’s goal-bound header late on.
Speaking to on Monday, the Baggies boss said of Johnstone: “He’s one of the best. I think that’s pleasing to see as he’s one of the two most important people in your team.
“The goalscorer is the first and your goalkeeper is the second. He’s right up there at the right level and he’d already saved more shots than anybody before yesterday.
“The defence was so good yesterday that Sam had little or nothing to do. That one brilliant save was a magnificent save when we needed it, but we limited Liverpool to hardly any shots on target and we had more than them.
“We’ve got to keep that up but know that Sam is there when needed and not make him too busy.”
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While Illan Meslier is a star in the making, there have been questions over whether he may be just a little too inexperienced to carry on as the first-choice stopper at Leeds this season.
Not that he’s been doing badly by any means, but given the sheer strength of attackers you’re up against in the Premier League, there’s certainly room for someone more experienced.
That said, would West Brom really let Johnstone leave halfway through the season when he’s probably one of their main hopes upon which survival rests? They’d be stupid to do so.
Even though the Lancastrian’s contract runs out in 18 months’ time, whatever they’d get for him next month would pale in insignificance to what they’d lose out on if they went down – a much higher possibility were he not in goal for the Baggies.