Danny Mills believes eight-figure fee will be sufficient for West Ham to prize star away from West Brom | OneFootball

Former Leeds United defender Danny Mills thinks an £11m bid for West Bromwich Albion’s Sam Johnstone will be enough to take the goalkeeper to the West Ham, speaking to Football Insider.

28-year-old Johnstone was one of the Baggies’ stand out performers in the Premier League last season despite their relegation and earned his place in England’s 26-man European Championships squad following Nick Pope’s injury.

Johnstone didn’t play a single minute in the  tournament but impressed on his debut at the start of last month against Romania and is due to return to the West Midlands shortly as he returns from international duty.

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Although the goalkeeper hasn’t been frozen out of the first-team like Matheus Pereira has, he is also likely to leave the club with just one year left on his current deal at The Hawthorns and the West Brom hierarchy wary of potentially losing him for free if they don’t cash in on him during this window.

They could offer the 28-year-old a new contract, but this is likely to be rebuffed with West Brom back in the Championship and the likes of Arsenal, Manchester United and West Ham interested in bringing him back to the Premier League.

Pundit Danny Mills believes an £11m bid may be tempting for a Baggies side who were previously holding out for £9m more than that earlier this summer.

After being asked about whether this figure would be enough to lure him away from The Hawthorns, Mills said: “Yes, I would have thought so.

“I just don’t like it when you don’t have an out-and-out number one goalkeeper. It’s the sort of position where the goalkeeper needs security, he needs safety and the belief that he is the number one.

“We’ve seen that with Jordan Pickford. The manager says ‘You’re number one’. It calms you down, stops you from trying too hard and stops you from doing things you don’t need to do and keep it simple.

“Sometimes, if you have two goalkeepers of equal ability and it’s not clear who the number one is, it can cause more problems than you need sometimes.

“(Lukasz) Fabianski (of West Ham) had a good season so you end up with a goalkeeper who thinks ‘Half a mistake and I’m out of the team’. That’s the last thing you need from a goalkeeper.

“You need your goalkeeper to be focused but relaxed. A lot of it’s mental, it’s about keeping that concentration during a game ‘If I do make a mistake, I’m still in the team’. Then you probably make the save because you’re more relaxed and not tense.”

The Verdict:

West Ham United seem to be the only side that have made a formal offer for the 28-year-old so far this summer, submitting a £6m bid that was swiftly rejected by the Championship side who will be holding out for an eight-figure fee.

It was very unlikely West Brom were going to entertain that type of bid even with just a year left on his contract. And if the Hammers desperately want to secure him, they will need to step it up massively and launch an offer that the recently relegated Championship side will find hard to refuse.

They should keep an eye on Arsenal as well, because they may decide to exit the race for £32m-rated Aaron Ramsdale and try to get fellow England international Johnstone as a cheaper alternative.

It would make sense for Arsenal, so David Moyes’ side cannot afford to be slow if they’re serious about recruiting Sam Johnstone.

With 36-year-old Lukasz Fabianski possibly approaching the end of his time in the capital, he would be a shrewd addition for the Premier League side and an £11m fee would probably be a good deal for all parties.