Sam Johnstone responds to pressing West Brom question after signing for bitter rivals Wolves

The goalkeeper, who completed a £10 million deadline day transfer to Wolves from Crystal Palace last week, didn’t even consider the rivalry with his ex-employers West Brom when he put pen to paper.

Johnstone, who spent four years at The Hawthorns after signing from Manchester United for around £6 million, has played more games for Albion than anyone else. The 31-year-old donned the West Brom colours on 167 occasions, keeping 45 clean sheets.

Aston Villa come in at second on that list as Johnstone made 70 appearances for the Villans during loan spells between 2016 and 2018. It appears these conflicts of interests aren’t considered when the goalkeeper makes decisions on his future, with football always the priority.

“Obviously the clubs are massive, massive rivals. But at the end of the day, it’s football so I didn’t think about that. This is a great club with great players, great staff, great fans,” Johnstone said via our sister publication, Express & Star.

“It’s obviously difficult, probably, for the fans to see that. But for me, it’s a place I could come and play and that was what was important. I’m at a good age, I’ve got a lot of experience, I’ve played a lot of games and obviously I’m still young for a goalkeeper,” Johnstone said.

Given how intense the feud is between the two clubs, things could get quite tasty if the former England international faces West Brom in a Wolves shirt. It’s unlikely it’ll happen anytime soon with the teams in different divisions but, as we saw last season, anything is possible in the cup competitions.