City in pursuit of Johnson

29 January 2010 08:38

Manchester City are determined to take a softly-softly approach with the pursuit of Middlesbrough winger Adam Johnson.

It is believed the Blues have tabled a £5million bid for the highly-rated England Under-21 star, who has scored 12 times this term and is out of contract at the end of the season. So far, Boro boss Gordon Strachan has insisted Johnson is going nowhere.

"Adam is still here and I would expect him still to be here for the last 19 games of the season," said Strachan.

"We have had verbal offers, we have had one official offer and I would imagine after looking at those that Adam will be here for the rest of the season, which we are quite delighted about because he is coming back into form."

But, with the player apparently keen to speak with the Eastlands outfit, City believe they can get their man.

However, there will be no grandiose statements about what they can offer Johnson, given the progress being made by the Blues is obvious for all to see, despite Wednesday night's Carling Cup failure against Manchester United.

Indeed, signing Johnson at the same time as they release Robinho, who has returned to former club Santos on loan, could be viewed as the sign of a more stable club than the one Sheikh Mansour bought in August last year.

It is a disappointing exit for a player who was City's top scorer last term but whose 12 appearances this season have yielded just a single goal, at Scunthorpe in what will probably turn out to be his final appearance for the club last weekend.

"Robinho is someone who needs to be playing regularly and we wish him well for the period of his loan," said Mancini.

Source: PA