Liverpool have been linked with a move for Manchester City’s bench-warming winger Adam Johnson. This rumour first made the rounds on caughtoffside.com, before getting picked up by The Sun. So it has to be true, right?
I’m naturally wary of these kind of stories. Liverpool are currently in the process of being linked to every winger under the sun and given that Johnson hasn’t been playing much for City this season, it’s all to easy for papers to create a link between the clubs – to create the verisimilitude of plausibility, without having to present any concrete evidence.
Despite there being no concrete evidence about any potential move, it does bring a couple of questions to the fore. How does Adam Johnson feel about his current position at Manchester City? How long will he be content with warming the bench?
Adam Johnson, who moved to City at the end of the January transfer window in 2010, has made only eight starts in the Premier League this season and has come off the bench a further fifteen times. That’s not enough game-time for a player that I genuinely believe would be pushing for a position in the England team, were he playing on a regular basis for his club.
I’d go as far as to say that he’s England’s best left-footed player. The trouble is, he doesn’t appear to be Mancini’s cup of tea, isn’t getting the game-time he needs and can’t showcase his talents for Fabio Capello. It feels as though an exciting talent is being wasted.
There’s nothing of the prima donna about Adam Johnson – he’s a workhorse who displays great passion for football every time he’s on the pitch and has the ability to back up this enthusiasm with good performances. Yet, he can only improve if he’s given time to play and I think there are certainly areas of his game that need work. Whilst his crossing is generally excellent, his link-up play needs work, he needs to be more aware of where and what his supporting full-back is doing and could probably learn to be somewhat more direct.
With enough practise however, I’m sure Johnson could iron out the flaws in his game and become something of an English Ryan Giggs for City.
The fact is City must do everything to ensure they keep hold of Johnson. That will involve offering the young winger more game time. Given that this is likely to be something that is equally rewarding for City as it is for Johnson, I don’t see this being much of an issue – despite the size of City’s squad. If there is a clear-out at Manchester City this summer, I for one hope that Adam Johnson isn’t a part of it. City must work hard to keep hold of their brightest and best.
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Apparently City are looking at bringing in Sanchez from Udinese. He has been linked with a plethora of clubs, but if City manage to keep the champion league spot, no doubt with their vast resources they will manage to capture his signature. If so, that would mean even less time for Johnson. He should look at leaving City if this is the case, and Liverpool would be perfect for him, as he would be guarenteed playing a first team spot…
Johnson was starting regularly before his injury for City and started yesterday in his first game fully match fit again. It’s important not to get caught up in the media stereotypes of players/clubs/situations as things are constantly changing and Mancini has turned Johnson into a more intelligent player over time and is rewarding him with more match time now.