Wolves complete signing of Crystal Palace goalkeeper

Wolverhampton Wanderers have completed the signing of Crystal Palace goalkeeper Sam Johnstone for an undisclosed fee.

The 31-year-old has signed a four-year contract at Molineux after losing his place in Palace's starting lineup to Dean Henderson, who the Eagles determined to be a better long-term fit.

Johnstone is an England international, regularly featuring in Gareth Southgate's squads, but didn't make it to Euro 2024 as Southgate plumped for Jordan Pickford, Aaron Ramsdale and Henderson.

Speaking about Johnstone's arrival in the Midlands, Wolves' sporting director Matt Hobbs said: "It's great for us to have a player with a huge amount of Premier League experience and an international goalkeeper. It's an area of the pitch we wanted to add more competition and, for us, it's finding the right balance between the level of investment, what it adds to the squad and what it enables us to do for the rest of the squad.

"Sam's at a good age – goalkeepers come into their prime a bit later – and what happens from here will be up to the boys in the building, but for us to be able to add someone like him is valuable for us.

"People know that we're looking for good characters and we're not going to take someone who is a really good player but doesn't fit culturally. He ticks a lot of boxes and it's up to him and the others to fight out for that position.

"I think a squad and a team is in a much better place when there's real competition for every place. If we can add such an experienced player, who is homegrown and knows the league, and it makes the whole group more competitive, then we wouldn't turn that down in any other position, so why do we turn that down with a goalkeeper?"

Johnstone's contract also contains an option to extend by a further 12 months, with his first mission to dislodge Jose Sa as Wolves' number one goalkeeper.

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