Sunderland want Johnson

22 December 2010 11:14
SUNDERLAND are ready to mount a concerted January push to sign England international Adam Johnson from Manchester City.[LNB] Black Cats boss Steve Bruce is hoping to set up a loan deal that will see Johnson move to the Stadium of Light until the end of the season, when talks over a more permanent transfer could take place.[LNB] The move is fraught with potential obstacles - not least the fact that Nedum Onuoha's season-long loan currently precludes Sunderland from loaning a second player from Manchester City - but the hope on Wearside is that none of the barriers will be insurmountable.[LNB] Bruce is expected to make a tentative inquiry before the transfer window reopens at the start of the year, and if the initial signs are positive, more formal talks could commence once the packed festive period is at an end.[LNB] Easington-born Johnson rebuffed interest from Sunderland when he moved to the City of Manchester Stadium in an £8m deal from Middlesbrough in February.[LNB] He has subsequently established himself as a regular in Fabio Capello's England squad, but his relationship with City boss Roberto Mancini has deteriorated markedly, and he has failed to start any of his club's last five league games.[LNB] Mancini is expected to make two or three signings next month, and the hope within the Stadium of Light is that Johnson could be a high-profile casualty of the Italian's squad building.[LNB] The Manchester City boss has shown little desire to build bridges with the likes of Roque Santa Cruz, Shaun Wright-Phillips and Emmanuel Adebayor - other players he appears to have lost patience with - and Johnson's position in the Eastlands pecking order is fragile at best.[LNB] Persuading Mancini to release the left winger is merely Sunderland's first task, however, as there is little chance of the club being able to meet City's anticipated demands for a permanent transfer.[LNB] Even if they could agree a fee, which is extremely unlikely, matching Johnson's reported £65,000-a-week wages over the course of a long-term deal would be problematic.[LNB] The preference would be for a loan deal, but Premier League rules currently prevent any club from having more than two players on a season-long loan at any time, and also bar clubs from signing two loan players from the same team.[LNB] Sunderland would currently break both rules if they signed Johnson, as they already have Onuoha and Danny Welbeck on season-long deals.[LNB] The situation would change, though, if they were to sign Onuoha permanently, and any detailed discussions over Johnson would be accompanied by talks aimed at securing the defender's full-time exit from Eastlands.[LNB] Onuoha has started all bar one of Sunderland's matches this season, and Bruce is keen to turn his loan move into a permanent transfer anyway.[LNB] Mancini is understood to have written the former England Under-21 international out of his plans for good, and Black Cats officials are hoping to be able to strike a deal for around £5m.[LNB] That would represent a significant portion of Bruce's likely January transfer kitty, but would create an environment where a loan move for Johnson could occur.[LNB] The 23-year-old, who made more than 100 senior appearances for Middlesbrough after graduating from the club's Rockliffe Park Academy, was a childhood Sunderland fan and has still has a number of roots in the North-East.[LNB] He would be a valuable addition to the Black Cats squad, as Bruce has been operating without an orthodox left winger for the majority of the season, regularly playing the likes of Welbeck, Bolo Zenden and Steed Malbranque in the role.[LNB] Wigan's Charles N'Zogbia is an alternative target, but the Latics have repeatedly refused to countenance losing the former Newcastle United winger for less than £9m.[LNB] Meanwhile, Niall Quinn has admitted Sunderland's medium to long-term progress is dependent on the club pushing its average attendance back above the 40,000 mark.[LNB] Quinn has made significant progress in a number of areas since replacing Bob Murray as chairman in July 2006, but a failure to persuade lapsed fans to return to the Stadium of Light remains a source of nagging concern.[LNB] Back in the 2001-02 season, Sunderland regularly attracted crowds of more than 40,000. However, they tailed off markedly the following year, when the club were relegated with a record Premier League points low, and have never really recovered since.[LNB] "The ambition to push on in the second half of the season is intrinsically bound with our progress off the pitch," said Quinn. "Our crowds are amongst the best in the country, but most of the clubs above us in the table at the moment command higher gates.[LNB] "The financial climate makes it difficult for supporters, but we need to make every effort to lift our average crowd back up to around 40-43,000 or even better. Our future advancement depends on this.[LNB] "We've got a lot of good things coming together off as well as on the pitch and we really need people to back us if we are to continue heading in the right direction."[LNB]

Source: Northern_Echo