Adam Johnson on Course for South Africa 2010?

April 6, 2010

With the recent injury to David Beckham and continued doubts over the fitness of Tottenham’s Aaron Lennon, Manchester City’s January purchase Adam Johnson is being hotly tipped to make the England squad for the 2010 World Cup.

The youngster turned in another strong performance in City’s 6-1 thrashing of Burnley at the weekend, contributing to a flying start which saw the visitors 3-0 up inside the opening 7 mins.

While there remains a lot of competition for places in the squad with Lennon, Theo Walcott, Ashley Young, Joe Cole, James Milner and Shawn Wright-Phillips all competing for a wide berth, there is increasing clamouring for manager Fabio Capello to throw Johnson into the mix.

Johnson’s talent has been on the radar of managers for sometime and in January 2009, he was linked with a move to Real Madrid. Despite some impressive performances, he was unable to keep Middlesborough in the Premier Division last season.

However, it could be argued that relegation to the Championship was the best thing that could have happened for Johnson’s career. With the pressure of a battle to avoid the drop removed, Johnson was able to enjoy a consistent run of games for the first time in his career and he thrived in the Championship, turning in a string of match winning performances.

All this was enough to spark a January battle for his services with City eventually winning the battle, with Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal all linked.

At the moment, Johnson has more important things to worry about with City’s quest for a top four spot his major priority - an achievement which would allow his coinsiderable talents to grace the stage of next seasons UEFA Champions League - but if he can help City achieve their goals, a starting berth (or at very least a place in the squad) in South Africa may well land his way.

Written by Danny Watson, a sports writer who blogs about football kits.

Share and Enjoy: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.