Sam Johnstone Joins Celtic on Season-Long Loan from Wolves

Sam Johnstone has completed a season-long loan move to Celtic from Wolves, with the deal still subject to international clearance.

The 33-year-old arrives as a seasoned Premier League campaigner and a full England international, drafted in to bolster a goalkeeping department that already includes Viljami Sinisalo and Ross Doohan. He brings with him more than a decade of experience in the English game, having first emerged at Manchester United back in 2011.

Johnstone has spent the last two seasons at Wolves and featured 17 times for the club in the previous campaign. On the international stage, he owns four England caps and four clean sheets – a flawless record that underlines the pedigree Celtic are adding between the posts.

The move clearly excites him. Speaking to CelticPlayer, Johnstone said: "It's a great feeling, I'm buzzing to be here and I'm excited to get going.

"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."

That call from a Celtic goalkeeping great underlined what Johnstone already knew: this is a club where keepers live under a spotlight. He sounds ready for it.

"I think everyone knows the goalie groups are a tight-knit group," he added. "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.

"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."

Celtic manager Martin O'Neill welcomed the new arrival and the extra edge he should bring to the position.

"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."

A proven shot-stopper, a clean-sheet record for his country and the backing of a former Celtic No.1 before he has even pulled on the shirt – Johnstone steps into Glasgow with expectation already swirling around him. Now comes the part he says he enjoys most: living with the pressure to win.