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The current transfer window is coming to an end and with all the speculation and rumours circling the media and social network sites, it got me thinking about the most surprising transfers of all time. The kind of transfer that made you get out of your seat when the news broke, the signing that you’d never thought would happen or never expected to happen.

Some players that didn’t make the list were the obvious ones like Sol Campbell to Arsenal and Eric Cantona to Manchester United. Also some obscure signings like Thomas Graveson to Real Madrid and the unexpected signings like Patrick Kluivert to Newcastle or Jurgen Klinsmann’s 2nd stint at Tottenham….and even Spurs signing Andy Booth on loan from lower division Huddersfield.

Join me below for my Top 10 surprise transfers of all time…

10. Robbie Keane

After a few seasons bursting onto the football scene with Wolves and Coventry, Robbie Keane had impressed Inter Milan manager, Marcelo Lippi enough to sign him for a fee of £13 Million in the year 2000. Despite his potential, it was rare for an Italian club to sign British based talent around this time with a similar surprise transfer being Ronnie O’Brien, released by Middlesborough, signed by Juventus in the late 1990’s.

9. Fabrizio Ravanelli

When Ravanelli, AKA ‘White Feather’ won the European Champions League in 1996 with Juventus, I bet he didn’t think he’d be playing for Middlesbrough F.C. several months later. At the time, Juventus did not want to sell to a club they would face in Europe, Boro matched the asking price and the ridiculous wage demands by Ravanelli. Only spending one season at the club, he scored a hat-trick on his debut against Liverpool, and finished runners-up in both FA & League Cup’s but couldn’t save Boro from relegation.

8. Dennis Bergkamp

Personally, this is one transfer that made me get out of my seat when the story broke. Having seen the Dutch striker perform in World Cup ’94, I did not expect to see him signing for Arsenal – the Arsenal side at the time who had a reputation for playing ‘boring football’. Signed by manager Bruce Rioch for £7.5 million in 1995 it was a bargain and a transfer that often get’s over looked considering what the player and the club went on to achieve.

7. Trevor Francis

It was not a surprise that one of the best clubs in the country at the time, Nottingham Forest, signed one of the best young English players at the time in Trevor Francis, but in 1979 the transfer deal surprised the football world in terms of the transfer fee. The previous record transfer fee had recently been broken with a £500,000 price tag, but the legendary Brian Clough blew that out the water by making Francis the first £1 Million signing in football.

6. David Beckham

Perhaps all of David Beckham’s transfers can be seen as a surprise but I think the most surprising of all, was his move from Real Madrid to LA Galaxy in 2007. Becks’ time at Real Madrid was not as successful as he had hoped, but towards the end of time at the Bernabeu, Becks started showing some form and many fans felt he still had a lot more to give at the top level before moving to America, where players usually go at the end of the careers rather than at the peak.

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5. Ibrahimovic / Eto’o

Personally this transfer really surprised me when the details were released because of the money involved. There is no doubt that Zlatan Ibrahimovic is a quality forward but for Barcelona to sign him for 30 odd million Euros PLUS Samuel Eto’o left me completely dumbfounded. It’s hard to compare the players, with their difference in size and playing style – but seeing how this deal has now played out makes me think Inter got the better striker plus the bonus of the high transfer fee!

4. Maurice ‘Mo’ Johnston

Infamous for his transfer to Glasgow Rangers in 1989, Johnston had previously played for Celtic in the middle of the eighties before moving onto FC Nantes in France. In an interview the player has said that he never wanted to leave Celtic, and would only play for another club outside of Britain. After two seasons in France, Celtic revealed they would be re-signing Johnston, but the deal was premature due to the legal contract over who owned the player. Meanwhile, fierce Rivals, Glasgow Rangers came in and the old Celtic ‘poster boy’ is being unveiled at Ibrox, both sets of supporters were unhappy considering the deep heat between two clubs, it was bold move by Rangers manager Graeme Souness.

3. Robinho

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The tricky Brazilian winger looked set on leaving Real Madrid in 2008 and the most likely move was to Stamford Bridge but Chelsea were unable to meet the transfer fee. New big spenders, Manchester City were able to offer the right amount and Robinho signed for the blue side of Manchester. A surprise that City were able to out bid Chelsea, putting their name on the map as the new big spenders – also a surprise that Robinho would move to the north of England after going on record he could never play football in northern Europe, due to the cold weather conditions.

2. Diego Maradona

Maradona’s move from Barcelona to Napoli came as a shock considering the Italian club’s reputation in world football. They had never won a league title or any European trophies but Maradona was desperate to move away from the Nou Camp after falling out with the club president. Maradona even said that at the time, he had never heard of Napoli but the surprise move paid off as the Italian side went on to win two Italian league titles.

1. Luis Figo

When a player moves directly between two rival clubs, it always proves a shock but it also made Luis Figo the most expensive footballer at the time in the year 2000. The enmity between Barcelona and Real Madrid provides one of the most extreme rivalries in the football world, Figo was loved at Barcelona but since his switch to Madrid, he became their new hate figure. In 2002 the infamous Pigs Head was thrown at Luis Figo when taking a corner during a El Clasico game.

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Everton head into the new league season bidding to beat the main drawback to their league form over the past few years – their notorious slow start. So where does the fault lay? Is it with boss David Moyes? How much of a threat would Everton be to the top four if they started the season how the often finish it?

Last season, Everton finished 7th in the league, the best of the rest as it were, and crucially, as a matter of local pride at least, ahead of Liverpool. They finished eight points behind behind sixth-placed Chelsea and 13 points off an increasingly out-of-sorts Tottenham side who limped over the finish line on 69 points in fourth.

After 12 games last season, by late November, Everton had already lost six of their opening fixtures and were 10 points off the top four – the damage had already been done. David Moyes’ pre-season training camps are almost legendary within the game for their intensity, which could partially explain why the side start slowly in the league, as their bodies are already somewhat fatigued by a gruelling training schedule. It also explains why they often finish so strongly, with those extra reserves that they have picked up from pre-season coming in handy down the home straight.

Everton head coach Jimmy Lumsden had this to say on Moyes’ pre-season training routine: “To be fair to the gaffer he does sometimes admit it might be a little bit old school, but he does it mostly for mental reasons rather than physical. If they can do these runs they can do anything. They drag each other through them and that’s an important aspect too. Coming to the last 10 minutes of a game, if you can drive yourself that little bit harder, go again that tiny bit quicker, than the seeds were sown in pre-season. It’s mental training.” But do these players require it year-on-year? After all, the turnover of players at Goodison Park is hardly huge, so the methodology may be not only exhausting but repetitive.

Another reason for their perennial slow start, which the club have certainly suffered for the last three years, could be due to their transfer activity, or rather lack thereof, while they often have to sell at least one key player every summer – last year for example, it was Mikel Arteta to Arsenal on deadline day, and the effect that this can have on a settled team’s style of play can be detrimental, while in 2009-10 the transfer saga involving Joleon Lescott ultimately played a part in a lack of focus within the side.

Conversely, the side also did some tidy business in the January transfer window which helped provide a welcome boost and fresh impetus to the entire squad. The signings of Nikica Jelavic, Darron Gibson on permanent deals and Steven Pienaar and Landon Donovan on loan all proved pivotal in turning around their season as they became a livelier and generally more creative outfit.

Everton’s strong second half to the season doesn’t make them a top four side, though, just like their poor start to the season doesn’t make them a lower mid-table side or relegation candidate. While they have the basis of a top quality side, for as long as players like Tony Hibbert, a fading Tim Cahill and ageing Phil Neville remain first-team regulars, the crushing lack of optimism that surrounds the club due to their lack of activity in the market will continue to play a part.

As with most issues affecting Everton, the root cause is the lack of investment and the unstable financial footing that the club find themselves on. Caught in a vicious cycle, each summer they will have to do their transfer business late as they often don’t have any sort of significant budget until they’ve let several players go, and by then, most other clubs have done their business and done it early.

You could attribute some blame to Moyes for the heavy pre-season schedule, but considering the circumstances and constraints he’s working under, there’s not really much more else he could realistically do.

The club’s decision to take a pre-season tour of Australia in 2010-11, as they attempted to cash in on Tim Cahill’s popularity over there, was also another mis-step, as in the end a combination of the hot climate, long travelling hours and sub-standard opposition meant that while it may have benefited the club financially, it had a negligible impact on the players ahead of a new season in terms of preparing them for the rigours of the top flight.

Every club has financial commitments to uphold, with various tours of China, USA or India being factored into most teams pre-season schedules now, with Everton themselves travelling to Indonesia this summer for a couple of games. Football has long since given into the craven commercial interests that run the game as they seek to exploit emerging markets across the world, and it’s bound to have an effect on those sides with smaller squads and finite resources when they travel around to them.

Everton are notoriously slow-starters under Moyes, and while the taxing pre-season training may be partially at fault, the lack of investment means the squad can easily be unsettled as bigger clubs cherry-pick their top talent – with Fellani and Baines the latest doing the rounds this summer – which along with the pressing need to fulfill financial obligations across the far flung corners of the globe, can often lead, or at the very least, attribute to a lacklustre start.

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It’s one of the Premier League greatest anomalies, and there’s no definitive reason to explain it, but the club do need to change it up to avoid a repeat performance this coming year. What’s the definition of stupidity again?

What do you think the reason for Everton’s perennial slow start is?

You can follow me on Twitter @JamesMcManus1

As the draw was made for European qualification for the 2014 World Cup on Saturday in the glamorous surroundings of Rio Di Janiero, it wasn’t just the Welsh football strip that was red. There were also a few red faces out there when it was announced who Wales were sharing a qualifying pot with. It’s almost impossible to believe that a country that has produced terrific players down the years (Ryan Giggs, Ian Rush, Neville Southall, John Charles, Gary Speed, Craig Bellamy, Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey to name but a few) would be placed in a pot specifically for the worst teams in Europe. This meant that a once great footballing establishment were rubbing shoulders with part-time teams such as Andorra, Liechtenstein and San Marino.

With the talent that they have in their squad, as well as a young, respectable manager, it seems baffling that it has come down to this. Of course it has all come down to this thanks to a Romanian computer programmer who spotted an error in the FIFA ranking’s calculations. Thanks to this mistake, Gary Speed’s side were leapfrogged by the Faroe Islands, a country with 20,000 fewer inhabitants than the Isle of Anglesey. A country more renowned for its fishing and lace-knitting than its football. A country whose best footballer had a trial at Carlisle United, and was subsequently rejected by the club!

All jokes aside, it would be foolish to read too much in to the world rankings as most people would bet on Wales every time to defeat the Scandinavian minnows. But it does beg the question as to what has gone wrong with Wales?

Their greatest achievement in competitive football was reaching the quarter finals of the World Cup. Unfortunately that was 53 years ago and since then, they have not even come remotely close to repeating that achievement. During the 70s and 80s, they were very much the ‘nearly’ team of European international football: Not quite good enough to qualify for the major tournaments, but nonetheless, a force to be reckoned with. But after they narrowly missed out on World Cup qualification for USA ’94, the team went in to free fall, losing to teams like Georgia and Moldova, as well as being thrashed 7-1 by Holland. But after Mark Hughes took over as manager, things started to improve and the team came agonisingly close to qualifying for Euro 2004 in Portugal, but lost in a play-off to Russia. Since then, the team have failed to reach similar heights. Hughes helped the nation to 49th in the world rankings. Back in August 2008, the team were 51st. But having only won 9 matches out of their last 26, the team has slowly deteriorated and found themselves in 116th place back in February – their lowest ranking ever.

The main problem that Wales seem to have is a distinct lack of motivation and consistency in their team. Throughout the years they have produced some star players, but too often these players have simply not been there for their country. These players, Ryan Giggs being a classic example, either underperform or choose not to play. As a result, the team loses and when the team struggle to qualify for major tournaments, the star players don’t want to play. These players are proud to represent their country, but do not see it as their biggest priority. Looking at the team in recent years, there has always been an air of mystery. Nobody ever seems to know who will or will not be in the squad and who will play well and this has resulted in a team lacking in creativity, teamwork and consistency.

Managers have come and gone down the years, but none of them have been particularly successful in convincing the team’s more talented players to represent their country. This is the task that now lies at the feet of Gary Speed. If the team is to climb out of its shame-hole, Speed will need his star players to put club commitments to one side and put on the red jersey. On paper, with players like Gareth Bale, Aaron Ramsey, Craig Bellamy, James Collins, Wayne Hennessey, David Vaughan and Robert Earnshaw, Wales should be considerably higher than their world ranking suggests and there is no reason why they cannot distance themselves from the ‘poor’ European teams and compete alongside the more ‘average’ European teams.

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On the plus side for Wales, the draw for World Cup qualifying has been reasonably quite kind to them. Their toughest matches will be against Croatia and Serbia and it’s difficult to see them getting a result against either team, however they have avoided European heavyweights such as Spain, Italy, Germany, Holland and England. Against Belgium, Scotland and Macedonia, Wales will fancy their chances considerably more.

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As things stand, Wales’ hopes of qualifying for the World Cup are probably the slimmest that they have ever been, but if Gary Speed can pull out all the stops to get his best players to represent their country, they may spring a few surprises.

Read more of Sam’s articles at http://diamondformation.wordpress.com/. Also follow him on Twitter: @DiamondFormat.

Hong Kong club South China have announced the signing of former Chelsea striker Mateja Kezman.

Kezman, 31, enjoyed stints across several of Europe’s biggest clubs, including reigning Premier League champions Chelsea, Atletico Madrid and PSV Eindhoven.

Kezman last played for Ligue 1 outfit Paris St Germain but had his contract cancelled by mutual consent.

“Having played the majority of my career in Europe I wanted a new challenge in my life,” Kezman told the club’s official website.

“The opportunity to play for South China excites me and I feel I can offer the team many things. I have maintained fitness over the winter and feel ready to play and score goals.”

“I want more success in my football career and believe South China FC can bring that, I have spoken to the manager and seen the team play and I believe this is the right club for me, I’m confident this will be a fantastic experience for all involved.”

Kezman’s signing will see him link up with former Manchester United and Newcastle midfielder Nicky Butt at Hong Kong’s most successful club.

South China’s chairman, Steven Lo, was thrilled to seal the signing of the former Serbia international.

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“To attract a striker of Mateja’s quality is fantastic for South China, as a club we hope his ability and experience will be a great asset to our team,” Lo said.

“Mateja has scored goals in many of the world’s top leagues and we hope he will do the same for South China. Everyone at the club is overjoyed by the acquisition of Mateja and the fans should be delighted at what he can offer South China.”

Barcelona are eager to sign a new central defender this summer, and are weighing up moves for Thomas Vermaelen, Vincent Kompany and David Luiz according to Mirror Football.

The Catalan side are eager to bolster their rearguard after losing their domestic and European crowns in 2011-12, with a bid-name centre-back top of their wishlist.

The Spaniards are thought to want Athletic Bilbao’s Javi Martinez as their number one option, but have been scared off by the Basque side’s huge transfer valuation of the player.

As such the Camp Nou outfit are looking abroad to try and find a long-term replacement for Carles Puyol.

Out of the three Vermaelen would seem most likely, as Kompany is City’s skipper and has recently committed to the club, whilst Luiz is thought to cost in the same price bracket as Martinez.

The rumours will be a source for despair for Arsenal fans, who are already concerned over the long-term future of skipper Robin van Persie.

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By Gareth McKnight

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Let’s face it, football is a game of clichés. You just have to listen to mangers during interviews, hear the ‘expert’ commentary offered by the likes of Sky, read what journalists have to say about the games they have witnessed. Even if it really was a ‘game of two halves,’ these generic statements are almost more amusing than informative in the modern game.

And even when the season ends, the clichés continue. The transfer window has a dictionary of its own, whether the players are sending ‘come-and-get-me pleas’, the managers are ‘issuing hands off warnings,’ or the chairmen are ‘slapping price tags’ on players left, right and centre. It’s almost a shame these are metaphorical, as the idea of Carlos Tevez on his knees pleading with clubs whilst being stickered with ‘£50 million’ labels by Sheikh Mansour is actually quite amusing.

But one cliché that seems to have lost its meaning over the course of the last few years is the notion of a ‘selling club,’ i.e. a club that sells. Not one of the more creative ones, granted, but one that used to carry quite a bit of weight. Fans never wanted their clubs to be described as one, and yet licked their lips at the thought of the likes of Fulham and Newcastle being forced to surrender their stars.

This last couple of years however look to have signalled the end of such a concept. Let’s look at the Ronaldo transfer from Manchester United. United were under no pressure financially to sell, they didn’t really want to lose arguably their star player, and yet they still took the £80 million from Real Madrid. Why? They said it was good business, but when you’re the most commercially successful club in the world that argument doesn’t make any sense. The same happened last Autumn with the shock news that Wayne Rooney was looking for a way out of the club. In the end they managed to appease the England striker, but for fans it was a shocking revelation. How was it that United could be losing key players?

The trend has continued this summer. Tevez wants to leave Manchester City. Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri look to be on the way out at Arsenal despite Arsene Wenger’s protestations. Luka Modric is determined to be wearing something other than the white of Tottenham next season.

It feels like a zombie apocalypse. The Premier League teams are the survivors, desperate to reach ‘the arc’ where civilisation, and the status quo, can continue. But there’s that niggling suspicion that maybe, just maybe, Arsenal were bitten when you were running frantically to the last safehouse. What happens if they did catch it? You’re all locked together, they could bite you next, and you could suddenly start haemorrhaging your stars?!

Back to reality. The fact is there was not a zombie apocalypse in which every team was suddenly and brutally transformed into a selling club. Selling clubs don’t exist. Horrifyingly, it is something much worse that has started happening in football.

Player power has taken a stranglehold on the game. Regardless of contracts, if a player wants to move they can force it by sulking until they get what they want, generally involving joining a team higher up and as a result gaining a higher wage package. The blame falls at the feet of the agents who sow the seeds of doubt in the minds of their client; that they deserve more, that their current club lacks ambition, that trophies and adoration will fall at their feet if they move. Not to mention the fact that the agent will get a tidy fee for their troubles.

It seems that it is no longer a case of clubs selling players, but one of players telling clubs they’re leaving whether you like it or not.

Whether this is a good thing or not depends entirely on what you stand for. If you’ve ‘had it up to here’ with clichés, you might see the death of the ‘selling club’ as a win. On the other hand, if you don’t want to live in fear that your supposedly dormant club is only moments away from exploding its best talent throughout the country, you might feel sick as a parrot at the direction football is heading in. Personally, I’m heading to the vets right now.

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If you have noticed any out of place clichés in this article, or have any of your own that you feel should have been included, splash them on my twitter. Best one gets a pat on the back.

http://twitter.com/#!/_tomclose

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After enduring a tough autumn, Everton’s outlook on Premier League life has suddenly started to look far rosier. A surprise 2-1 win at the City of Manchester stadium has given David Moyes and his men key momentum heading into a series of winnable games over the Christmas period. If they are serious about European ambitions this season a run of good results here will be essential.

Birmingham thrived over this period last term, and may expect to do similar this year, with results improving over recent weeks. Their biggest problem has been converting decent performances into wins, and should the relegation battle remain so close, this profligacy may well cost them come May, as it did in 2008.

Whilst long-term absentee James McFadden remains a big miss for City, Everton’s stretched defensive resources and over-reliance on Tim Cahill to perform well may mean the Toffees are forced to share the points.

Prediction: 2-2

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For many years now the number of Ipswich fans that turn up at Portman Road has been in a steady decline. Fans who have turned up to see the team play recently have had to witness dwindling attendances and a declining atmosphere at home games.

Once the season gets to the later stages the only real excitement comes from either a promotion chase or a real relegation battle and Ipswich haven’t had either for a long time.

There really hasn’t been anything at Portman Road to bring the fans in, especially now there is no East Anglian derby game.

It doesn’t take a genius to predict how and why ticket sales drop every season but you need a shrewd  plan to prevent the atmosphere from dying out completely. Attendances were always going to drop given the club’s transformation from a Premier League club to a stable Championship side but the club have done very little to combat this.

The club’s only strategy for improving the match day experience for next season so far seems to revolve around bringing back the cheerleaders for the half time entertainment. To the best of my knowledge, I do not know a single football fan who enjoyed the half time entertainment when the cheerleaders were around and it is easy to understand why.

First of all, cheerleading on the whole is not done as well in the UK as it is done in the States, mainly because we use 14 year old girls, awful music and poor choreography. Secondly, it is not part of our sporting culture and fans would much rather see something not so cheesy in terms of half time entertainment.

Personally, I enjoy it when fans are brought onto the pitch and given the chance to win a car or holiday if they can kick a ball through a target. It is a simple idea with no real thrills but still enjoyable because you know that the club is getting involved with the fans.

However, even if Ipswich had Diego Maradona doing back flips at half time it wouldn’t convince most fans to pay over the odds to see a game. The hard truth is that the atmosphere won’t improve no matter how good the half time entertainment is. The obvious suggestion for improving the atmosphere at Portman Road is lowering the ticket prices.

Fans do not get value for money in comparison to what some clubs offer. This season Ipswich secured themselves a mid table finish very early on, so for the final third of the season the team had nothing to play for and nothing to lose. This made a number of home games in the later stages of the season very unappealing but the club still charged a high price for tickets. Who in there right mind would pay to see two sides with nothing to play for but mid table mediocrity battle it out when they could sit at home and watch Premier League games on Sky Sports?

Only loyal Ipswich fans and season ticket holders turn up to these games. A half empty stadium is never exciting for the fans and it can’t be good for the players. The problem Ipswich have is that with their current structure they can’t afford to lower prices. If they reduced prices by 40% then attendances would only rise by around 20-30% which would mean they would lose a lot of their revenue. Whilst it would be great to see the club sacrifice some revenue in order to improve the atmosphere, risking the clubs financial stability wouldn’t be worth it.

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Unfortunately many clubs as well as Ipswich have to over charge the hard core fans because it is the best way to get the maximum amount of revenue from their home games. Some fans will always turn up even if they are being over charged and clubs have to exploit that if they want to give themselves the best chance of competing financially.

The only real solution to combat the declining atmosphere is actually very simple, yet extremely difficult to achieve. Ipswich just need to win. The club could do a lot more to improve the match days and their strategies are at times boarding on incompetent but the reality is that attendances will only improve significantly if the team are playing well. Ipswich have gone past the point where they could be considered more than a mid table side and the harsh reality is that the club’s reputation has declined. Football is a temperamental game though and winning football matches solves everything. Hopefully next season a good run of form early on in the season will spark excitement at Portman Road and fans can turn the stadium into the fortress it once was.

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According to The Guardian, Cameroonian International Samuel Eto’o is interested in a move to the Premier League with Arsenal thought to be at the forefront of contenders for his signature. It’s not the first time that Eto’o has been linked with a move to England with both Arsenal and Chelsea thought to have made bids for his services in the past. At thirty years old, however, you might be forgiven for wondering if the ship had already sailed on the success of any potential move. It boils down to this: does Eto’o still have what it takes to compete in the Premier League and would he fit in at Arsenal ?

He’s currently plying his trade at Inter Milan where he has played a pivotal role in Internazionale’s forward line. He has scored 33 goals in 67 appearances – hardly figures becoming of a striker who is currently ‘slowing down’. Inter President Massimo Moratti has sung Eto’o praises on a regular basis, once telling reporters: “Eto’o is fantastic. I do not want to take anything away from Ibrahimovic, but for everyone it was really a great deal to get Eto’o. Samuel is truly extraordinary.”

Yet it still seems difficult to image Wenger going after a striker who is over thirty years old. Even Eto’o has acknowledged that age has become an issue: “I am now 30 years old and it is very important for me to think about my future before I sign what could be my last contract. I have already shown that I have what it takes to play in Italy and I now have the idea of proving myself in England.”

I have to say, that despite concerns surrounding his age, I think Samuel Eto’o would be an ideal addition to Arsenal’s squad. It’s clear that the Gunner’s need a world-class striker to partner Robin Van Persie. The likes of Marouane Chamakh, Carlos Vela and Nikolas Bendtner just haven’t been cutting the mustard and Eto’o doesn’t just represent a step-up from these players, but a gigantic lurch forward. Eto’o would add not only goals to Arsenal’s front-line, but experience and a winning attitude.

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He doesn’t seem to have lost any pace and he has at least two-three more seasons left at the peak of his game. Yes if Arsenal do acquire Eto’o at this stage he won’t have any potential re-sale value when his time with the Gunners is done but that shouldn’t be Arsene Wenger ’s concern at this moment.

Throughout his career Eto’o has maintained a ratio of one goal every two games (469 appearances, 250 goals) and has won most of the games top honours. The more you consider it, this ex-Barcelona star seems like a perfect addition to Arsenal’s squad.

Read more of Harry Cloke’s articles at This is Futbol

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Juventus are set to step up their interest in Glen Johnson to stop a worrying slide. Juventus have been knocked out of the Europa League group stages and have been poor defensively in Serie A this term. There has been a crisis of confidence in the defence this season, and the Italian giants see Johnson as the man to steady the ship.

Regular right back Zdenek Grygera will miss at least the rest of the month with knee ligament damage and stand-in Marco Motta has been alarmingly poor. After Roy Hodgson’s negative comments about Glen Johnson last month, could there be a deal on the table?

Johnson would suit the Italian’s play, as they are a far more expansive team under Luigi del Neri, and are looking for an expansive left back alos. However, any deal for the 26-year-old would not be cheap and new Anfield owner John W Henry insists the club are not under pressure to sell.

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