Adam Johnson (born 14 July 1987) is an English footballer who plays for Manchester City as a winger. A product of the Middlesbrough youth academy, he came to prominence after making his first team debut as an eighteen-year-old in a UEFA Cup tie. His favoured position is on the left wing but he is capable of playing on the right.

Club career

Middlesbrough

Though born in Sunderland, Johnson was taken in by Middlesbrough's youth academy as a youngster after being spotted by club scouts at an East Durham school-age match.[2][3] He was one of the many players in the first team to graduate from Middlesbrough's acclaimed Academy to the first team in recent years. He and his Boro teammates David Wheater, Tony McMahon and Andrew Taylor were part of the squad that won the 2003–04 FA Youth Cup.

The youngster made his senior debut aged seventeen on 17 March 2005 in the UEFA Cup in the 1–0 defeat away to Sporting Lisbon. Almost six months later he made his Premier League debut, and first senior start, deputising for an injured Stewart Downing in a 2–1 home win against Arsenal. For much of the first half of the 2005–06 season he was on the bench as an unused substitute, mainly in the UEFA Cup matches. He made his second start in the competition against Litex Lovech on 15 December and set up Massimo Maccarone's first goal in a 2–0 win.[4] For the rest of the season, he managed to make appearances, albeit as Downing's deputy or an unused substitute.[2]

Johnson's first goal for Middlesbrough came in a midweek Premier League game against Bolton Wanderers on the 3 May 2006. He was playing due to Middlesbrough's involvement in the UEFA Cup final which was to be played a week later as Steve McClaren rested most of the first team squad. On 30 June, he signed a new four-year contract extension.[5]

Leeds United and Watford

On 16 October 2006 he joined Leeds United on a month-long loan after being signed by Leeds' caretaker manager John Carver, but with Leeds struggling in the Championship it was hard for Johnson to impress despite getting the man-of-the-match award on his debut. After playing four games during his month-long loan spell, Johnson returned to Middlesbrough as Leeds chose not to extend his loan.[6]

Later on in the season he came on as a substitute in the FA Cup replay with Bristol City and played a vital role in seeing Middlesbrough through to the next round by setting up one goal and scoring the winning penalty in the shootout.

In September 2007 Johnson joined Championship side Watford on a three-month loan.[7] He played 12 games for the club, scoring 5 times, before being recalled to Middlesbrough earlier than stipulated in the deal following some brilliant performances. Coincidentally, Watford's form dipped after his departure.[8]

Back to Middlesbrough

In the final game of the season, he scored a 18-yard strike from a loose ball just minutes after coming on as a substitute in Boro's 8–1 thrashing of Manchester City.[9] In the 2008–09 season, he managed to make 32 appearances, half of those as substitutes as Downing was first choice.[8][10] He managed to start most of the fixtures near the end of the season when Downing was ruled out with a long-term injury.

Johnson became an important part of Boro's Championship side for the 2009–10 season following Downing's transfer to Aston Villa, scoring three of Boro's five goals in the first three games.[11][12] He led the Boro scoring charts, with eight goals, for the entire first half of the season despite being a winger, which led to new manager Gordon Strachan expressing his concern about overrelying on Johnson for goals. In the 18 August match at Scunthorpe United, he missed a penalty awarded for a foul on Rhys Williams and scored another after being tripped by the Scunthorpe goalkeeper in the penalty box when both went for the rebound.[13]

After a bright start to the season, the highly-rated youngster became a subject of transfer rumours with several Premier League clubs reported to be interested[14] and was linked to his hometown club Sunderland for much of the summer. The Boro management insisted that he would not be sold.[15][16] However he chose not to extend his contract, which was to end after the 2009–10 season. On 13 December, he was substituted for Marvin Emnes after picking up a hamstring injury in the 1–0 home loss to Cardiff City[17] but returned to score a penalty against Scunthorpe in a 3–0 win, thus taking his goal tally into double figures. He scored a brace for the third time in the season when he turned in a man of the match performance against Doncaster Rovers on 26 January to end Boro's winless away streak stretching back to October.[18]

In recognition of his consistent performances, Johnson was voted for the North East Football Writers' Young Player of the Year award,[19] joining a string of Boro players to do so.

Manchester City

When the winter transfer window opened, Johnson was again the subject of transfer speculation and Middlesbrough reportedly received a bid from Manchester City.[20] On 1 February 2010, City signed him for an undisclosed fee on a four-and-a-half-year contract.[21][22] He made his first appearance for the club on 6 February, coming on as substitute for Stephen Ireland against Hull City. Three days later he made his first start against Bolton Wanderers on the right side of a three-man attack alongside Carlos Tevez and Emmanuel Adebayor, finishing as the man of the match.[23] Johnson scored his first goal against his hometown club Sunderland, the club his family supports. He calmly curled in a sublime 18 yard effort one and a half minutes into injury time to secure a last-gasp 1–1 draw.[24] On 3 April, he turned in a man of the match performance in the 6–1 away hammering of Burnley, which led England manager Fabio Capello to publicly praise the 22-year-old.[25]

International career

A former under-19 international, Johnson was called-up for the under-21 team at the 2009 UEFA U21 Championships in Sweden. He scored once in qualification[26] and again in the first leg of the qualification play-offs against Wales U21s as the Young Lions narrowly won 5–4 on aggregate to qualify for the tournament. During the tournament he started in two of the three group stage matches. He won the man-of-the-match award in the final group stage match against Germany that ended in a 1–1 draw[27] and converted his penalty in the semi-final shoot-out win against Sweden.

In late February 2010, Johnson was named in the senior squad for the first time in Fabio Capello's 30-man shortlist for the upcoming March friendly against Egypt in May but did not make the final 23.[28]

In May, Capello named Johnson in his preliminary 30-man World Cup squad. Johnson made his full England debut on 24 May in a 3-1 friendly victory against Mexico at Wembley Stadium, coming on as a late substitute for James Milner.[29]. On 1 June 2010, Capello announced his final 23-man team and Johnson failed to make the cut.[30]

He scored his first international goal on 3 September 2010 against Bulgaria in a Euro 2012 qualifier, which England won by 4-0.[31]