Celtic Sign Goalkeeper Sam Johnstone on Loan

Celtic have moved to bolster their last line of defence, bringing in England international goalkeeper Sam Johnstone on a season-long loan from Wolves, subject to international clearance.

The 33-year-old arrives with a serious body of work behind him. A product of Manchester United’s academy, where he started his senior journey in 2011, Johnstone has spent the past decade immersed in English football’s intensity and scrutiny. He joined Wolves two seasons ago and made 17 appearances last term, while on the international stage he boasts four England caps – and four clean sheets.

Now he drops into a Celtic goalkeeping unit that already includes Viljami Sinisalo and Ross Doohan, adding experience, presence and proven pedigree to a department that will be under constant pressure in a trophy-chasing season.

Speaking to CelticPlayer after sealing the move, Johnstone could barely hide his enthusiasm.

"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 move drops Johnstone straight into a new goalkeepers’ union, and he made it clear he sees that as a strength.

"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."

One day in Glasgow was enough for the scale of the challenge to hit 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.

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

On the touchline, Celtic manager Martin O'Neill sees Johnstone as a key addition to a squad expected to deliver silverware.

"We are really happy to welcome Sam to Celtic," O’Neill 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."

Celtic now have an England international ready to stand under the crossbar and embrace that pressure Johnstone craves. The only question left is how quickly he turns that excitement into commanding performances in front of a full house.