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All because the summer transfer window closed a week ago doesn't mean the rumour mongering stops. The rumour mongering never stops. Not even if there are four months and an awful lot of football to go before the January transfer window and Europe's clubs are all now focused on kicking the ball about the pitch as they sometimes do between transfer seasons.
But if you're struggling to readjust to life after the window, a little hit of rumour to keep you going arrives today with suggestions that Juventus are already plotting a January move for Glen Johnson. With his contract expiring in the summer, Liverpool wouldn't get much for him if he moved in January, but in this scenario they'd likely be happy just to get his wages off the books.
Right now, Liverpool have five fullbacks in Johnson along with Javier Manquillo and Jon Flanagan on the right and Alberto Moreno and Jose Enrique on the left. Assuming Enrique really is over last season's injury struggles and that Manquillo and Moreno continue to look as assured and confident as they have in their first few weeks in England, Johnson clearly seems the odd man out.
Given the question marks surrounding some of Liverpool's other fullbacks, he's useful cover for the club today. If they make it to January and he isn't first choice on either side, though, the club would likely be more than willing to see Juventus pick up his £100k a week contract for its final months. However, those wages might well still stand in the way of any deal getting done.
If Liverpool's other fullbacks can remain fit and in form, and if Juventus wants to take on all of Johnson's wages, there's little reason Liverpool wouldn't let the player leave in January. Yet if any club had been willing to take on his wages over the summer, he might have already left despite his value as cover for a collection of fullbacks who are either young and unproven or injury concerns.
With so little time left on his contract, the question marks surrounding Liverpool's other fullbacks, and Johnson's ability to play on either side, there's little reason for the club to subsidise his departure. There wasn't in the summer, and there won't be in January. If Juventus are willing to take him on, though, they might well find Liverpool are happy for Johnson to move on.
