Middlesbrough and Birmingham City may well have been given a boost in their chase to sign Jack Butland with Crystal Palace now thought to be open to letting the goalkeeper go in either a loan or permanent capacity.

The Eagles are set to sign Sam Johnstone at the start of July with the player signing a four-year deal and it will be him and Vicente Guaita battling for the number one shirt at Selhurst Park.

Indeed, that said, Sky Sports are reporting that Palace are now willing to listen to offers for Butland and that could be of interest to Middlesbrough who are linked, and Birmingham who have also shown a reported interest in signing him.

The Verdict

This development will naturally have caught the eye of Middlesbrough and Birmingham, and any other clubs that are interested in signing Butland for that matter.

It is clear that he could well leave Palace this summer one way or another and it just remains to be seen where exactly he ends up, and in what capacity.

He is a good goalkeeper that just needs to be playing regularly to build some confidence, and with Johnstone now arriving it's apparent he needs to move in order to achieve that.