Source: Daily_Mail
Man City and Chelsea set for battle to sign Portsmouth star Johnson
Glen Johnson has become a target for Manchester City and Chelsea
Big money pair Chelsea and Manchester City will slug it out to sign Portsmouth defender Glen Johnson.
City want to boost their squad further and are prepared to pay up to £18 million for the player, but Chelsea are keen to bring Johnson back to Stamford Bridge after selling him for just £4m two years ago.
There is believed to be a clause in Johnson's contract, allowing him to leave if the south coast club receive a bid in excess of £12m.
And City are willing to hand Johnson a £120,000 a week salary, according to a report in the Express.
Manager Mark Hughes has already signed Gareth Barry from Aston Villa this summer, and has been given the green light to sign more players and turn City into one of the leading lights in English football.
Reports have also linked the Eastlands club with a move for Joleon Lescott.
Barry was unveiled at a press conference on Thursday, and explained his reasons for joining, despite previously stating a desire to play in the Champions League.
He said: 'People will question this decision, but I'm confident that in a couple of years' time people will realise I made the right decision.
'We all know about the ambition of this club and it excites me. They want to sign top international players and it felt like the right thing to do to come here.
'I don't want to compare City and Villa because that wouldn't be fair. But the whole point of me coming here was to have a change, something that excites me.
'Playing in the Champions League with Manchester City, that is viable. The manager has convinced me we can reach these heights.
'If Villa had finished fourth I would have stayed. I would have enjoyed playing Champions League football at Villa Park.
'It would have been wrong for me to have left had this been achieved. But once it was looking like Villa weren't going to make it, then my future became unclear.'
