Liverpool lining up January bid for City midfielder

Liverpool have been linked with a move for Adam Johnson for quite some time but it would appear that the chances of snapping up the England international have lessened given that the right winger has seen his side become genuine contenders for major honours this term.

However the former Middlesbrough man is still struggling to get regular first team football. Last term the 24 year old started 15 Premier League games whilst making another 16 appearances from the bench and this season has made three top tier starts and managed just 14 minutes of Champions League football.

Given that Roberto Mancini has a plethora of wide options, including David Silva, Samir Nasri, Mario Balotelli and James Milner to name just four top internationals, the Italian would probably not stand in the way of Adam Johnson if he pushed for to leave the club.

However Johnson may feel he has the ability to beat off competition to become a regular at Man City but clearly if Liverpool were to show their return to form by pushing for a top four spot themselves, then perhaps the intelligent winger would consider a move to Anfield.

Liverpool have brought in a number of midfield additions over the summer, with Stewart Downing, Johnson’s former team-mate at the Riverside, making the left side role his own. Jordan Henderson and Charlie Adam were brought in to add more options for Kenny Dalglish who then lost Raul Meireles to Chelsea and then loaned out Alberto Aquilani to AC Milan.

The right hand side of his midfield is now being primarily taken by Henderson but the England Under 21 international is also very effective in the centre of the park. Dirk Kuyt has found himself pushed out of the first team and the Dutchman may well be considering his future.

Johnson would cost Liverpool at least £15million and clearly Man City have no financial need to sell the player so a lot would depend on the player’s intentions to fight to prove himself to Mancini, knowing that regular first team football may be needed in order to maintain his spot in Fabio Capello’s England plans ahead of the Euro 2012 finals next summer.

This story has been reproduced from the media. It does not necessarily represent the position of Liverpool Football Club.

Source: FootyBunker, CaughtOffside

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