Reports: Sam Johnstone will swap Villa for West Brom as Baggies reach deal with Manchester United

According to the Daily Star and TeamTalk, Sam Johnstone will be staying in the West Midlands for the foreseeable future. However, it won’t be in the claret of Aston Villa, but in the stripes of their close rivals, West Bromwich Albion.

The reports state that ‘The Baggies’ have locked in a £4 million deal to steal one of Villa’s top performers this season. Of course, this move will be official on the 1st of January, so it could be true that Johnstone has played his last game for Villa.

Any transfer offer would make Villa’s loan deal null and void, as Johnstone’s contract would be moved to a new team - the one paying an actual transfer fee. Villa would thus lose Johnstone.

It is important to remember one thing, these are just reports from two sites at the moment. We’ll bring you more when we see something - but it’s worth reporting this stuff as it’s probably true and if so, is cause for concern for Villa. Teams in the bottom-half of the Premier League have been circling Sam Johnstone for about a year now. We’re unsure about the legitimacy of TeamTalk and this report - because it could very well fall into ‘clickbait alley’ - with silly season about to start. Again, we’ll keep an eye on it because it is realistic and not in the realms of madness.

The ball is now in Villa’s court, but there is no idea of where they’d find the cash to match West Bromwich Albion’s offer.