Liverpool set to sign Glen Johnson after Portsmouth
agree £18.5m fee
.
• Right-back expected to seal move within the next week
• Chelsea withdrew from race to re-sign the England
right-back
.
.
Liverpool expect to sign Glen Johnson within the next
week after Portsmouth accepted their £18.5m bid for the England
right-back and Chelsea withdrew from the race for their former
employee. The deal will represent a significant breakthrough in the
transfer market for Rafael Benítez, who was also informed today
that Real Madrid’s interest in Xabi Alonso has allegedly
faded.
Johnson, along with David Silva and Gareth Barry, was a leading
target for Benítez this summer and is clear to complete his move to
Anfield after Liverpool matched Chelsea’s offer for the 24-year-old
last night.
Though unable to compete financially with Chelsea and Manchester
City, who also bid for Johnson, Liverpool are still owed £7m by
Portsmouth from the deal that took Peter Crouch to Fratton Park
last year. That will be written off as part of the Johnson fee,
with Andrea Dossena and possibly Alvaro Arbeloa being sold by
Liverpool to swell Benítez’s budget beyond a net £20m.
The England international considered a straight choice between
Liverpool and Chelsea after electing against a move to City due to
their lack of Champions League football.
Johnson had indicated to Anfield officials that he favoured a
move to Merseyside and that decision became simpler yesterday when
Chelsea opted against re-signing the player they sold for £4m in
2007. It is believed problems selling José Bosingwa may have forced
Chelsea’s sudden retreat, with the Stamford Bridge club unwilling
to add another expensive right-back to their squad without
off-loading the £16.2m Portugal international.
Johnson’s anticipated arrival at Anfield will be a major relief
to Benítez following Barry’s move to City and the possible
repercussions for Alonso, a long-time target for the new Real
Madrid president, Florentino Pérez, and a player who remains
disillusioned with his relationship with the Liverpool manager. The
Anfield club have repeatedly insisted that Alonso is not for sale
and, in the absence of any public declaration to the contrary from
the player, Real’s director-general Jorge Valdano has claimed
defeat in attempts to lure the Spain international to the
Bernabeu.
His interview with Marca, however, may also be an attempt to
force Liverpool to lower their asking price for Alonso and part of
a protracted strategy to sign the 27-year-old.
“Liverpool have issued an official statement to the public –
Xabi is a player who has little chance of joining Real Madrid,”
said Valdano. “We tried hard to sign him a few years ago. We had a
meeting with Real Sociedad but, when I left (Madrid), they lost
interest in him.”
