At the weekend, United officially announced that goalkeeper Sam Johnstone would extend his contract until 2018, when he would play for the Red Devils for 15 years.
Johnstone, 23, has yet to make his debut in the first team, just the team's goal three. His contract was supposed to expire next year, but it was eventually decided to renew it.
After the contract extension, Johnstone said: "I'm delighted to sign a new contract, coming to the club at 10 and I'm growing up here. The last 13 years have passed in the blink of an eye and I've enjoyed every moment here. Every day I work with world-class goalkeepers and now I'm going to use those experiences to push myself and prove my ability to the manager. ”
Mourinho praised Johnstone's attitude: "Sam is a goalkeeper with great potential. He was young, but very professional and had a good attitude towards the game. In my short time at the club, he has made huge progress and I am delighted that he has entrusted the future to Manchester United. ”
This season, Johnstone has played as a substitute in League Cup games against Northampton and Europa League against Luhanskzoria; in the past, he has been on loan to Oheim, Scunthorpe, Walsall, Jørweil, Doncaster and Preston.
However, the British "Manchester Evening News" believes that Johnstone's contract renewal is "willing to do the secondary car" and lacks ambitious goals. "Johnstone wanted De Gea's place, but he acted more like a youth player." The newspaper criticized.
Many Of United's academy players dream of playing for the first team, but not everyone can achieve it, so some players will choose to leave at a certain age and find other room for development. Many of them succeeded, such as Pique, Shokros, Robbie Brady, Drewwater, Michael Keane, and others. There are also many goalkeepers, such as Tom Heaton who was even selected for the England national team after his departure, and Ziller also became the German international and returned to the Premier League.
Johnstone won the 2011 FA Youth Cup with Manchester United's youth team, and many of his other teammates in that team have already played the main force, such as Pogba, Jesse Lingard, Keane, and some have already experienced ups and downs, such as Ravel Morrison wandering England, Italy and many clubs have not made headlines.
Johnstone is one of the few remaining members of the team who remains at Manchester United, he is about to turn 24, and the road ahead is traversed by de Gea, one of the world's best goalkeepers, and the back-up is also Argentina's Men romero, Johnstone has little chance. The British media joked that he may be the only Manchester United man who wanted Real Madrid to fix the fax machine a year ago.
On a recent manchester United television feature on life inside and outside johnstone stadiums, he showed a rather satisfactory attitude with the status quo and was criticized by the media.
This summer, the goalkeeper said: "I would say I don't see any difference between me and Marcus (Rashford) and Jesse (Jesse Lingard). They want to play for Manchester United and I want to play for Manchester United. ”
But there's a huge difference: there's only one goalkeeper position, while his teammates can play in many positions. Marcus Rashford and Jesse Lingard's social networking sites tell the story of his goal for Manchester United and his england national team, while Johnstone's photos are just about dressing rooms, buses, or enjoying the fans' onlookers.
Goalkeepers have had longer careers, but many of the famous goalkeepers have also made their Premier League debuts at a very young age, even playing as the main players. De Gea, Cech and Courtois have already appeared before the age of 20, and in the English hukou, Bartland and Johat have also become the national gate at the age of 21.
Johnstone was selected for the England youth squad but hesitated in the final hurdle and was seen as wasting his talent.
He has a role model: Heaton, the former Manchester United youth goalkeeper who also waited until the age of 24 to leave, relegated to Cardiff, but he succeeded there and is now the main goalkeeper of burnley in the Premier League.
Johnstone's stay at Manchester United is a good thing for the club, but not necessarily for him personally.
If he really wants to be a Red Devils first-team goalkeeper, he needs to go out and prove himself.
At the moment, Johnstone's plan seems to be to seek opportunities on loan. On Instagram, a fan rafa_mosothoane asked the question: "Man, why don't you rent out to play more games... You are a good goalkeeper and have a lot of potential. ”
Johnstone replied, "That's exactly what I'm trying to do at the moment." ”