Liverpool's Glen Johnson never considered joining Chelsea or Manchester City

09 July 2009 15:18
The England international was unveiled today as Rafa Benitez's first – and perhaps only – summer signing and the former West Ham right back admitted a childhood "soft spot" for the Anfield side was enough to convince him to move to Merseyside. He said: "I grew up in south London but the first football kit I ever had was a Liverpool one, so I've always had a soft spot for them. "It's a fantastic club and a great opportunity for me. I was not at any point close to going back to Chelsea. There was nowhere else I wanted to go but here. It couldn't have been an easier decision." Johnson's official presentation at the club's Melwood training ground capped a good day for Benitez, delighted no doubt to have seen captain Steven Gerrard put pen to paper on a new, four-year, £110,000-a-week contract that should keep him at Anfield until the end of his career, and relieved that estimates of Fabio Aurelio's damaged knee cartilage will sideline the Brazilian for a maximum of two months, rather than six, as had been feared. The Spaniard is certainly delighted with his new right back, praising his "maturity" and his decision to move for purely footballing reasons, rather than the "money, money, money" which he believes drove Gareth Barry to spurn Liverpool's year-long pursuit for Manchester City. Johnson is likely to make his Liverpool bow against Swiss side St Gallen in a friendly next week but even the prospect of impending action is unlikely to give Benitez much relief from the sagas surrounding the futures of Xabi Alonso and Javier Mascherano. When asked about mooted interest from Real Madrid and Barcelona in his central midfield duo, Benitez simply said: "They are both under contract and we are very happy with them. "We took Xabi from Real Sociedad and Javier from West Ham and Liverpool has been extremely good to both of them."

Source: Telegraph