England man Johnson set for Italy move?

England full-back Glen Johnson is a man who hasn't always enjoyed life in the Premier League. After making his debut for West Ham United in 2003, he attracted the attention of Chelsea and became the first arrival at Stamford Bridge following the revolution instigated by Roman Abramovich. He experienced a mixed spell with the Blues but was soon pushed out of the first team by Paulo Ferreira and Geremi, with Jose Mourinho perhaps unconvinced of the player's credentials and consistency. A humiliating incident involving a "stolen" toilet seat from a B&Q store also increased the negative press surrounding the player.

Happier times came for Johnson at Portsmouth, a club of a size that seemed to suit the player slightly more than the league champions, and he was included in the PFA team of the year at the end of the 2008/2009 season. However, a move to Liverpool brought an end to the decent relationship between Johnson and the Pompey fans. By this time He'd already earned his first England cap, but it took a little longer for him to cement his place in the side.

Johnson's time with the Reds started brightly, with a stunning performance against Stoke preceding another decent performance against Bolton. However, injury problems plagued his time at Anfield after that spell and, since his return, he has quite clearly failed to impress Roy Hodgson, with the Liverpool boss stating that it's no good being a "player of great ability if you are not bringing that to the field of play".

With the player since hitting back at the beleaguered Liverpool boss by branding his tactics and approach to the game as "boring", it would appear that the Johnson's future lies away from Anfield and perhaps even away from the Premier League. By now he had become England's first-choice right-back, but his poor form at Liverpool has led to many questioning that decision.

Of course, the football betting tips suggest the whole Liverpool squad should be doing better, but Hodgson clearly feels Johnson has been particularly poor.

Another unsettled figure at Anfield, Alberto Aquilani has since found form at Juventus in Serie A and the midfielder has stated that he would love to see the player make the move to Italy and because of this, the football transfer rumours have started.

With Aquilani apparently desperate not to make a return to Anfield, with his loan move not yet made permanent, it seems clear that sometimes the grass really is greener elsewhere. Whether a switch abroad will help develop Johnson into the kind of international player England fans dream about remains to be seen, but right now things couldn't get much worse for him.