Viktor Johansson set to play final Rotherham game as £730k Leeds United transfer news emerges
Rotherham United’s final Championship game of the season against Cardiff City could be Vikor Johansson’s last for the club, with Leeds United interested in him, according to Sportbladet.
The Swedish outlet reveals that Johansson’s contract contains a buyout clause of around £730,000 and names promotion-chasing Leeds and relegated Premier League outfit Sheffield United among the teams keen on acquiring the goalkeeper.
Rotherham’s relegation back to League One has long been sealed and they are unlikely to be able to retain the services of their star shot-stopper, who has caught the eye with his heroics for the Championship’s bottom club.
Johansson slipped from his supremely high standards when Rotherham were beaten 2-1 by QPR in February – but it speaks volumes that manager Leam Richardson refused to blame the player and praised him instead, with the Rotherham Advertiser quoting him as saying (25 February): “I’ll never criticise Vik. He’s a top-drawer professional. He’ll be disappointed.
“He’ll question himself because his levels are so high. We expect him to make those saves and win us games sometimes.”
Viktor Johansson would be an astute signing for Leeds United
It is telling how highly regarded Johansson is in spite of Rotherham’s truly dreadful campaign.
Richardson’s men are certain to finish bottom of the Championship and go into the final round of fixtures having accrued just 24 points from their 45 games. Huddersfield Town, who are second-bottom, have more than double their tally, with 45 points.
The club’s goals conceded tally does not reflect the quality of Johansson’s work either – Rotherham have shipped 87 strikes in the league so far, comfortably the worst record in the division.
It must be reiterated that those figures should not be used to paint the Swedish shot-stopper in a bad light. In fact, quite the contrary.
Of the 87 Championship goals Rotherham have conceded this season, 85 came with Johansson between the sticks. However, he faced an xGOT (expected goals on target) of 88.19, meaning he has actually conceded three fewer goals than he would have been expected to, based on the quality of the shots he faced [FotMob].
That goals prevented figure of 3.19 is the fifth-most of any goalkeeper in the second tier – only Mads Hermansen, Angus Gunn, Anthony Patterson and Carl Rushworth can better his total.
If Leeds can acquire a goalkeeper of such shot-stopping quality for less than £1million, it seems like a no-brainer, regardless of whether or not they clinch promotion.
In other Leeds United news, a teenage sensation is now set to snub Manchester United in order to move to Elland Road.
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