Will Johnson live to regret Man City move?
If like me, you care to dabble in a spot of Championship football from time to time, you’d have seen the sparkling form that former Middlesbrough wide man Adam Johnson has been in this season. This form has prompted Roberto Mancini’s Man City to sign him before the end of the January transfer window for an undisclosed fee though to be around the £7m mark – a move that the tricky winger will most likely come to regret this time next season.
Much like Victor Moses, Adam Johnson has so far this season looked a cut above the rest in what is a fiercely competitive league and his performances have attracted many an admiring glance from the premier league and abroad…but unlike Moses whose move to Wigan seems a sensible career move and one which will see him garner a fair amount of playing time before the honours and awards are dished out in May, the Johnson move smacks of short termism.
Just where Johnson fits into City’s plans remains to be seen but with Petrov and Bellamy almost certainly already ahead of him in the queue for the left wing berth his move does seem an odd one. Throw in the fact that they already have the talented if inexperienced Vladimir Weiss on loan at Bolton who can also play on the left and it looks quite a crowded position.
I do not doubt his quality, for many a season he played as Stewart Downing’s understudy at Boro before a very productive loan spell at Watford saw him return to figure more in the first team. For quite some time as Downing – a player reborn after going stagnant at Boro – struggled to hit the heights of earlier seasons, many fans were calling for the exciting Johnson to replace Downing in the starting eleven. Bellamy and Petrov have been two of City’s best players over the last couple of months and as seasoned internationals they will not give up their place willingly and Johnson may seriously struggle to see any playing time.
It would be sad to see a player of such potential consigned to meaningless reserve team fixtures and the odd Carling Cup outing. Moses however seems to have chosen the correct path to develop his talents. His move to Wigan may not be the eye catching club the youngster would have hankered for but at least in a small squad such as Wigan’s he is likely to be played upfront or out wide in a team that will look to utilise his pace on the counter-attack.
You can’t help but feel Johnson has missed a step on the career ladder, a smaller club like Wigan would have made much more sense and served him a hell of a lot more. At least at a mid table club like a Wigan or a Blackburn he’d be able to display his talents on a regular basis and showcase his ability against higher opposition week in week out before eventually going onto a big club (which City undoubtedly are)…but with City its likely he’s going to struggle to break into the first team at all.
All of the progress and development that he’s made over the last couple of years playing regularly for Boro could go to waste and he could regress – this would be a shame not only for the player himself but also for the national side, as a player of Johnson’s potential is more than capable of making the step up from the under 21s to the first team in the coming years. It’s a well trodden path, the one of the up and coming youngster being snapped up by a big side only to struggle to settle or get any first team action and more often than not it’s the same old story – one of unfulfilled potential and failure, let’s just hope that Johnson proves me wrong, as for the time being at least, his move to City does not seem a wise one.
Written By James McManus
Football News 24/7
No dont be silly best up & coming club in world & he will be loaded
Reply
He’s a class act. I hope he gets his chance for City and for england. I’d have made the same choice in his shoes. His life is set uo now financially and he really can just focus on his game.
Have a smile with this spoof tribute..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jl3lwSVHWY
Reply
lots of guesswork and bluff.
petrov almost certain to leave this summer, contract runs out end of this season and no moves to offer a new one from the club. Bellamy plays limited number of games and not often 90 mins. Weiss is a right winger not left.
Reply
Mancini has proven that he’s given young players chance. So if Johnson is good enough and we would have paid the money if we didn’t think he was, then we wouldn’t have signed him. Petrov will be out at the end of the season anyway imo. He doesn’t have the right attitude. Johnson is a straight replacement for Robinho an I am very positive about the move. Bothe for him and us.
Reply
I am a Boro fan, and am very sad to see Adam go. . The Boro fans have been screaming for him to play instead of Downing for the past 3 years, and because he wasn’t getting his game we couldn’t tie him down to a long contract and now we are paying the price. . I know City fans will say that we got 7 million for him, but he is a real gem and will go on to be an England regular. . City have bought a class act, and if he gets games, he will not disappoint. He can play either wing, so maybe not in direct competition with Bellamy, and in my opinion is a far better player than Petrov. Only time will tell if he has made the right move, but it wasn’t for money. He was repeatedly offered a huge pay deal to stay, but at the end of the day who would turn down the chance of Prem football and possibly Champions League. I just hope he doesn’t spend the majority of it warming the bench because he is genuinely better than that.
Good luck Adam, and I have no doubt you will shine at City.
Reply
From what I’ve seen of him at Boro and especially the U21′s, he’s a proper star, he has pace, skill, and he’s not afraid to track back and get stuck in, and I for one am really excited to see him in a City shirt.
I don’t like Petrov’s attitude, and his contract may not be renewed, not to mention he has a lousy injury record, so Johnson will most likely play half a game with Bellamy, or alternate games, depending on Bellamy’s fitness.
Best signing of this transfer window by far, reminds me of James Milner in some ways too.
Reply
Badly thought out article. He will be a starter for City quite often I’d have thought.
Petrov is out of contract in the summer and won’t be renewed..plus his performances have been poor.
Bellamy can’t play every game, his knee can’t take it and we have a number of weeks coming up playing 2x/week. He’ll fit right in – excellent move for the lad – if he’s good enough he’ll be picked.
Reply
Of course if Fergie had signed him for Man Utd it would have been a great move for him ond one he would never have regretted in his life. Of all the big money signings City have made in the last couple of years, this is the most exciting for me and I am sure he will do very well for us. More anti-city bile picked up by news now.
Reply
He will get in ahead of
Petrov no doubt and believe me Mancini wouldn’t be wasting 7 million on a bench warmer the kid is good very good he is sure to be a future star. CTID
Reply