Johnstone Joins Aston Villa On Loan

Manchester United goalkeeper Sam Johnstone has joined Aston Villa on loan for the remainder of the season.

The 23-year-old has had previous spells with Scunthorpe United, Walsall, Yeovil Town, Doncaster Rovers and Preston North End and will relish the prospect of more first-team football.

Johnstone told Villa's official website: "I’m really pleased to have joined Aston Villa - it’s a massive club.  

"It's an opportunity I jumped at, it's one you simply can’t turn down. I'm delighted to be here and I can’t wait to work with Steve Bruce. I’ve heard very good things about the manager."

Bruce, the ex-United skipper, has revived the Midlanders' fortunes with the club now in mid-table after a disappointing start to life in the Championship. The Villa boss has raided Old Trafford to bring in Johnstone with another former United Academy keeper, Pierluigi Gollini, also currently on the club's books. Mark Bunn kept goal in Monday's 1-0 defeat at Cardiff City.

Johnstone signed a new contract with the Reds in October and has been on the bench twice for the first team this term. United manager Jose Mourinho confirmed recently the England Under-21 international would be the only senior member of the squad to leave on loan this month. 

The 2011 FA Youth Cup winner spoke to ManUtd.com at the start of the season about his patience and determination to succeed with the Reds, and will surely benefit from the move to a club as big as Villa.

In the meantime, his third place in the pecking order of goalkeepers at Old Trafford appears to have been taken temporarily by Joel Castro Pereira, who has returned from a loan spell at Belenenses in Portugal.