It's hard to imagine the washed up ghost of Andy Johnson that we see before us ever being worth upwards of £8.5 million, but that was the case eight years ago. It has been five years since Johnson managed more than three league goals in a season, despite making 75 appearances. Indeed, he has been plagued by injuries and fitness problems in recent years, leaving him on the fringes of the Crystal Palace team - the same club whom he scored 21 Premier League goals for during the 04/05 season. With Palace languishing in the Championship in the summer of 2006, there were no shortage of suitors for the England international, with Everton, Portsmouth and Wigan Athletic interested in acquiring his services. After having an £8 million bid rejected by the Crystal Palace board, Bolton Wanderers returned with an improved bid of £8.5 million to match Wigan's bid for the in-demand centre-forward. In the end, after talks with both Lancashire clubs, Johnson had looked to be leaning towards signing for Allardyce's men, when Everton swooped in with an £8.6 million to land the 25 year old on a five-year contract. As always, however, Big Sam found a way of extracting the silver lining, in signing whom he perceived to be a slightly more proven player.
''Andrew Johnson is a very talented player and I think he is on the same par as Nicolas Anelka, but perhaps he hasn't done it as regularly as him at the top level. He was one of my first targets and it was disappointing when he didn't come to us but I have to say that when Anelka was first mentioned, I didn't think he would come here.'' - Sam Allardyce, August 2006.
Recent Journalism & New Media graduate. Insatiable thirst for all things football, and hopes to break into the field of sports journalism in the near future.
Have made a significantly insignificant playing career out of receiving several slaps around the head for not passing the ball.
