Manchester City have let a number of top talents depart over the years – such is the nature of being a wealthy Premier League side who can afford the best players from abroad.
In recent times, the likes of Cole Palmer, who never wanted to go, and Liam Delap have been sold at the Etihad Stadium – with talents such as Jadon Sancho and Brahim Diaz departing in years before.
Long before this quartet departed Manchester City – however – there was a precocious player on the books in Michael Johnson, who Wayne Bridge has now been speaking about on The Dressing Room Podcast.
What Wayne Bridge said about Michael Johnson
Speaking about Johnson, Bridge reminisced about his vast potential and impressive ability, telling Joe Cole and Shaun Wright-Phillips: “Another one who… I didn’t realise how good he was, knee injuries, Michael Johnson.
“Yeah, he was a player as well, but injuries killed him. He was a good player. Injuries and maybe some other things, but yeah, he was a player.”
The Citizens plucked the Englishman from the youth ranks at Everton back in 2004, believing they had secured the future of a future England regular in doing so.
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However, Johnson was only able to make 45 appearances for Manchester City between his senior debut in 2006 and the time of his release in December 2012, where he was still being paid £40,000-a-week despite last appearing for the Citizens in October 2009.
Throwback! pic.twitter.com/PnI31mO6iQ
— Manchester City (@ManCity) March 16, 2020
Injuries severely hampered the man born in Urmston – who is now 37 years of age – requiring a double hernia operation in 2007 before he was troubled by a persistent groin problem too, as well as cruciate ligament damage in his knee.
Sven-Goran Eriksson once said he was told Michael Johnson is better than Steven Gerrard
What happened with Johnson at Manchester City was a truly sad situation, as the midfielder was a player of world class potential.
Sven-Goran Eriksson even said Dietmar Hamann suggested Johnson was better than Steven Gerrard, telling Callum’s Football Broadcast in 2024: “Didi Hamann said to me once, boss, this guy is the best midfielder I’ve ever played with.
“Didi Hamann played for Liverpool, he played for Bayern Munich, he played for Germany, 50, 60, 70 games, something like that. Coming from him that’s extremely good, but Michael was that good.
“He was extremely good and some years later when I came to Leicester, one of the first things I did, I bought him. Unfortunately, it didn’t go well, but at City he was great.”
Photo by John Peters/Manchester United via Getty Images
Photo by John Peters/Manchester United via Getty Images
Hamann even likened Johnson to Michael Ballack, saying: “I can honestly say Michael was outstanding in all these areas. The player he reminded me of was Michael Ballack because of his all-round ability, but also because he was so economical with his game.”
Unfortunately, the football world never got to witness Johnson fulfil his vast potential.