Roberto Mancini stated in his most recent pre-match press conference that in order for players to leave the club, new faces would have to arrive first. He said this after being asked as to whether or not Adam Johnson or Nigel De Jong would be leaving the club before the transfer window closes in a week’s time.
City are linked with new faces every single day, potential signings for City clog up column inches in all of the national newspapers, David Luiz for £30 million is the latest, laughable, rumour to circulate. Despite this, there appear to be no genuine signings on the horizon for City. Scott Sinclair’s potential move from Swansea seems to have stalled whilst Daniele de Rossi held a personal press conference just to let City fans know he wouldn’t be adorning the sky blue shirt anytime soon.
This has led to considerable frustration for Roberto Mancini who has had to watch his prized targets join his fiercest rivals. Robin Van Persie has helped to strengthen Ferguson’s men whilst Eden Hazard’s snub of City will have been made worse once he revealed he’d be joining another of City’s rivals, Chelsea. Therefore, Mancini is refusing to sell want away players before he is certain that he is able to obtain suitable replacements for them.
This all means that, currently, Adam Johnson is being prevented from leaving the club. Mancini signed Johnson on the final day of the 2010 January transfer window, his first signing. Despite being something of a fan’s favourite at City he’s failed to live up to his potential. His supporters argue that he hasn’t been given enough football for him to really excel. I’d argue that surely Johnson knew the situation he’d be involved in at City. He has all of the attributes to be an excellent impact player and it is when he’s come on as a substitute that he’s really excelled. His memorable, superb, curling effort that rescued a point for City away at Sunderland and his winning goal at home to Newcastle after coming on as a substitute are two highlights of a City career that promised so much but delivered very little.
Whenever the Premier League gets a glimpse of his true talent there is always a call from neutrals for Johnson to be given more starts, or to move to another club in order to find first team football. What these neutrals fail to understand is that Johnson is a ‘highlight reel’ player, it would be quite easy to create a video montage of Johnson’s goals, assists and trickery but it is his attitude and work rate that hold him back from becoming a truly great winger. He may explode into life during brief spells throughout games but on the whole he fades, fails to track back and is guilty of ball-watching. This is why Mancini neglects to start him, he knows he is more likely to get the required level of performance from the more consistent pair of Nasri or Silva and therefore leaves Johnson watching from the sidelines.
Johnson recently complained of the lack of first team opportunities at City and explained why his substitute performances had been below par, saying, ‘You can’t just go into one game after not having played for five and be expected to perform. I’m not sure if I’ll get that chance at City’. I completely disagree with Johnson. At a club like Manchester City that is often challenging for numerous trophies, players may only be needed occasionally, but in order to be a part of the squad they must produce performances that the club expects.
Johnson argues that it is impossible for a player to perform after having been neglected for previous games. Adam must only look at teammates James Milner, Pablo Zabaleta and Nigel De Jong to see that hard-working players can put in outstanding performances despite watching from the bench in previous games.
It is a real shame that it hasn’t worked out for Johnson at City, having said that he will leave us with FA Cup, Premier League and Community Shield winner’s medals. Personally, I hope that he does go to Sunderland, rather than Spurs or Newcastle, and that he’ll be given first team football so we can see whether or not Johnson has the ability to perform week-in, week-out in the Premier League. Good luck to him.