Celtic Strengthens Goalkeeping with Sam Johnstone Loan

Celtic have moved to strengthen their last line of defence, sealing a season-long loan for Wolves goalkeeper Sam Johnstone, subject to international clearance.

The 33-year-old England international arrives with a heavy backpack of experience from over a decade in English football, having first emerged at Manchester United in 2011 before carving out a solid Premier League career. He joins a goalkeeping group that already includes Viljami Sinisalo and Ross Doohan, adding proven pedigree to a department that will be under constant scrutiny in a trophy-driven season.

Johnstone has spent the last two campaigns at Wolves, making 17 appearances for the club last season. On the international stage, he boasts four caps for England – and four clean sheets to go with them, underlining the reliability that has kept him in and around the national picture.

“It's a great feeling, I'm buzzing to be here and I'm excited to get going,” he said.

He didn’t need a sales pitch, but he got one anyway from a familiar voice.

“I didn't need convincing by anyone, but Joe Hart rang me the other day just to reiterate what a place this is, what a great group of lads and how the fans are unbelievable.

“Like I said, I didn't need convincing, but for someone like that to ring me up and reiterate again the size of the club and what it means to people, it just made me so excited to get here and get started.”

The former Manchester United keeper knows exactly what kind of environment he is stepping into: intense, demanding, and obsessed with silverware. That suits him.

“You hear about the size of the club, and you know about the size of the club, but just being here for a day, you notice how big the club is.

“And the pressure to win, which is what I like – pressure to win, pressure to perform and we all want to win trophies.”

Inside Lennoxtown, Johnstone expects the goalkeeping union to be tight and competitive.

“I think everyone knows the goalie groups are a tight-knit group. We work closely together every day and hopefully I can help Vil and he can help me, and we push each other and we support each other along with the other goalies and the goalie coaches.”

All of it builds towards one stage: a packed home crowd and the noise that comes with it.

“You hear about the atmosphere at the stadium and that's something I can't wait to play in front of.”

Celtic manager Martin O'Neill believes he has added serious quality to a key position.

“We are really happy to welcome Sam to Celtic,” he said. “He is a quality keeper with excellent experience at the highest level and I think he will be a very good addition to our goalkeeping team.

“He is really looking forward to joining Celtic, to add competition to our team and we are pleased to bring a goalkeeper of this quality to the club.”

A new goalkeeper, fresh competition, and the familiar pressure to deliver trophies. Johnstone knows exactly what he has signed up for. Now he has to live up to the noise.