Adam Johnson: Should he stay or should he go?

This summer he has been linked with moves to Liverpool, Stoke City, Sunderland and pretty much everyone with the financial clout to bring him in and the reason is his supreme talent yet obvious lack of first team football.

The player in question?

Adam Johnson.

In the modern age of football, player power is ever present so if Adam wanted to leave Manchester City he could make it happen but, to quote The Clash, should he stay or should he go?

It seems a long time ago now that Johnson was making his mark for club and country after a deal saw him leave Middlesbrough and head to Eastland’s in 2010. His mazy dribbling skills and Robben-esque ability to cut in onto his left foot make him at times unplayable. He appeared to be on the up and even scored 2 England goals in one week against Bulgaria and Switzerland in September 2010.

That was nearly 2 years ago and since then much has changed; with Adam spending more time on the subs bench then he does the right of Man City’s midfield/attack.

One reason is the obvious competition for places in a strong Man City side. With options coming out of his ears Mancini must find it easy to discard Johnson to the sidelines in favour of Silva, Nasri, Aguero, Tevez and co. He also isn’t really a Mancini player. He has never been one for tracking back much preferring to attack then defend and his lack of work ethic really does let him down in the eyes of Mancini.

But Roberto says he wants Adam at City next season, but insists he must improve his game. There’s no doubting he is talented. He reminded us of his talents late last season with a delightful cameo against Norwich but it wasn’t enough to earn him a place in the Euro 2012 squad and this is his main worry with staying at City.

The fact remains he wasn’t involved in the squad for the final day pandemonium against QPR and lost his place in the England set-up due to a lack of action. Mancini and Johnson may have found some sort of delicate bliss but it could be ignorant, he needs a move to boost his career and it could be on the cards if Man City are serious about purchasing Daniel Agger from Liverpool.

With Liverpool set to lose Craig Bellamy, putting Andy Carroll up for sale and now seeing Luis Suarez the subject of transfer talk from Juventus they need forward players who can play in Rodgers preferred 4-3-3 system. Johnson would slot in quite comfortably on the right side of that midfield 3 and talk of a player plus cash deal is gathering momentum.

Sure Adam could stay at City, play a handful of games and maybe win another league title but at 25 years old I would much prefer to see him playing week in week out because he has the ability to set the league alight with the right opportunity.

He should go.

What do you think Adam Johnson should do ahead of the upcoming season?

image: © p_a_h