At £18m, is Glen Johnson a good signing for Liverpool?

Ollie Irish

16th, June 2009

14 Comments

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A man with no idea how to use Photoshop (me) offers his impression of how Johnson would look in a Liverpool shirt
By all accounts, Portsmouth have accepted an £18m bid from Liverpool for Glen Johnson. Hmm, funny that Rafa Benitez is suddenly willing to spend so much on Johnson when he enquired about the right-back’s availability in January and balked then at the £9m Pompey wanted.
Johnson had a good season at Pompey, in as much as he seemed to discover a new, effective forward gear, and also by comparison with his defensive team-mates, all of whom had relatively poor seasons. He’s also flourished under Fabio Capello, and is well-placed to be England’s first-choice RB at next year’s World Cup.
But is Johnson worth £18m? And is he so much better than Alvaro Arbeloa (who may now be sold, along with Andrea Dossena, to help fund the signing)?


I think this makes sense, even if £18m is hardly a bargain. Arbeloa is very solid and has rarely let Liverpool down, but I think Johnson has more to offer, especially going forward. Benitez likes his players to be natural athletes, and there’s no doubt that Johnson trumps Arbeloa on that count.
The real losers are Chelsea, who ditched Johnson for £4m. I suppose the club didn’t foresee that Johnson, who used to have his head in the clouds, would choose to knuckle down and better himself, but with the benefit of hindsight, it’s clear that selling Johnson was a significant mistake.
Do you think it’s a good move for Liverpool to blow £18m on Johnson? Leave a comment or vote below (or do both!):

Horror Hair: Glen Johnson

Posted in Chelsea, Liverpool, Portsmouth, Transfers & Rumours

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14 Comments

  1. Glenn says:

    Johnson is easily the best right back in the country at the moment, well worth his price tag.

  2. runeil says:

    i agree the best right bak at the moment and all liverpool fans shuold be very happy.
    no matter what the price..
    hes priceless to portsmouth be greatfull
    he will be reaveled to liverpool by thursday

  3. David K says:

    Great signing… remember its not£18 coming straight out our account…Pompey still owe alot of the £9m for crouch!

  4. David K says:

    Just found out Pompey still owe us £7m for him infact! So thats £11m take away to £8m if we sell alvaro to Madrid… £3m signing!

  5. autogen says:

    Arbeloa is good going forward but he is a terrible defender and has made some critical mistakes this season. GJ is a sensible buy, this would be a great quality signing.

  6. Jeff says:

    Everyone knows we need to strengthen the squad, which means bringing quality players in while keeping hold of our better players. Glen Johnson would be a good addition to the squad and provide much needed competition\cover at right back BUT we need to keep Alvaro Arbeloa.

  7. David K says:

    agree with Jeff, should really keep him…

  8. owenmc says:

    Great signing, get rid of arbeloa and Dossena 14mil, Crouch money still 7mil we will still be 2million+. Liverpool seem to have more money than the media reports lots of senior reports in Liverpool that DIC have bought Liverpool to be announced start of July. Now all we need is Silva and second striker i.e Augero 19th title coming home send Fergie into retirement on top of our perch.

  9. Blindside says:

    A good but , yes , rather high price tag signing as he falls into the ranking of home talent under proposed rulings .

  10. Collie says:

    I really dont like Arbeloa, he is too slow and his positional sense is very questionable and this was evident far to often last year. Johnson is a better defender and will offer more going forward, Arbeloa seems afraid to cross the ball at times and with el nino so good in the air quick early crosses from the full backs can cause huge problems next year. Im happy!!!

  11. kalasoma says:

    I agree that Johnson looks like a much solide bet at RB than Arbeloa. Plus, I don’t think Carra will be quite so eager to push Johnson around. If the deal is finalized, I hope Johnson does well for us, stays focused and will get his mates to steal bathroom appliances for him, if need be.

  12. idiots says:

    you guys are idiots. arbeloa is fine. gj is overrated overpriced.
    what we really need is a winger and a second striker.
    rafa you really ahve to get your head straight in the transfer market. you have been blowing in the market besides torres signging.

  13. Driver Scans says:

    arbeloa is fine but gj is overrated AND overpriced. get it straight.

  14. I think this team needs to get some new team players. This arrangement will not work.

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