Raghavendra Goudar
David de Gea texted to congratulate former Manchester United star Sam Johnstone after England call-up
Speaking to Sky Sports, former Manchester United goalkeeper Sam Johnstone has revealed a classy gesture by David de Gea upon his England national team call-up.
Johnstone, a Manchester United youth academy product, currently plays for West Bromwich Albion. Despite the Baggies being mired in the relegation battle, the goalkeeper has emerged with some credit this term.
So much so that his form even earned him a call-up to the England national team for the upcoming World Cup Qualifiers. Now, Johnstone has revealed that his former Manchester United teammate, David de Gea, reached out to him to congratulate him for the good news.
“He texted me when I got the call-up, saying he was happy for me and really proud. It’s really nice to hear from someone like that that I trained alongside for a number of years and learned a lot from.”
Speaking on how the experience of training alongside someone like De Gea, who is widely regarded as one of the best goalkeepers in the Premier League over the last decade, Johnstone described it as ‘special’.
“Just to be around him every day was special. To work with someone like that. He was young, playing for Manchester United and Spain.
“You pick stuff up from being around him and watching him and how calm he is and how good he is because he is one of the best. It was great to be around him and learn from that.”
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Johnstone, 27, came through the youth ranks at Manchester United but never managed a first-team appearance for the club. After a series of loan spells across various levels of English football, he signed for West Brom permanently in 2018.
It was classy of De Gea to reach out to the goalkeeper on a special moment in his career. Judging by his words, it clearly meant a lot to Johnstone as well.
