Johnson Exit to Liverpool Appears Inevitable
Posted on | June 16, 2009 | No Comments
Reports in the Portsmouth News today suggest that Pompey have accepted an £18.5m bid from Liverpool for Glen Johnson. You can read the full article here.
This is obviously disappointing, but shouldn’t come as a major surprise. There is consternation among fans, and worry regarding what this says about the current takeover process, but I believe the truth is much more simple. Let’s touch on some of the issues, from the club’s perspective and the player’s.
The player – Johnson has proved himself over the last two seasons to be an international class full back. Whilst it didn’t work out for him at Chelsea, he has come on leaps and bounds at Fratton Park, and is a much better player now. Crucially, he signed a new contract in January this year, well into the period of current uncertainty at the club. It is perfectly normal for a player of his quality to have certain escape clauses in these situations, and I believe we are witnessing that clause being exercised now. The clause would commit the club, perhaps to a transfer to a top four team and/or a certain offer, regardless of ownership.
This shows, of course, how far the club has to go, even after the takeover is completed, before it can compete with those regularly playing in the Champions’ League. It is just a shame that our league has become so scewed and uncompetitive, that all seems to depend on that holy grail. However, I can’t blame Johnson for showing ambition and belief in himself. He has been through hard times at Chelsea and is now reaping the rewards of his rehabilitation at Portsmouth.
The club – I believe the club is bound by some sort of escape clause in Johnson’s contract, but some of the concerns and theories doing the rounds regarding the club’s motivations are as follows.
‘How can the club sell a player during due diligence, but not appoint a manager or buy players?’ I agree the sale of a player would theoretically be as much a football decision as the appointment of a manager or the purchase of players, but I refer back to the probable ‘escape clause’. The club has no choice. Of course, a new owner can not appoint a manager before he is officially installed, and there must be a new manager in place to buy players. I am sure the club does not have the option to wait once the bid is received, as there is no guarantee of the money still being on the table later in the summer, once clubs have done a little more shopping.
One concern raised is that perhaps Standard Bank of South Africa have called in some debt, which in the absence of any escape clause, is why the club has to sell Johnson. This may even be true, but it wouldn’t make sense then for the club to sell its major asset in the middle of a takeover. Perhaps in this scenario, some of the debt is personal to Sacha Gaydamak, and wrapped in complicated covenants which make the sale of Johnson necessary.
This is all speculation, and probably the subject of the due diligence process itself. Whatever the truth, it is evidently a long way from here, to competeing with the ‘top four’ and this is what we should be concerning ourselves with. I would be considerably more concerned if we were to see Peter Crouch leaving, as he is not the England regular that Johnson now is, and is unlikely to have a similar contract clause. However, anything can happen in football. In any case, once the takeover is complete, we have been led to beleive that steady progress will be made. That’s the really important thing in all this.
Tags: Champions League > Chelsea > Dr Sulaiman Al Fahim > England > Fratton Park > Glen Johnson > Liverpool > Peter Crouch > Pompey > Portsmouth > Sacha Gaydamak > Standard Bank of South Africa
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