What's City's motive for making a bid for Johnson right now anyway? They've got Petrov and Bellamy already vying for their left-wing spot, so you'd assume Jonno might have to re-accustom himself to a bit of second XI football initially.
Johnson spent years in the shadow of Stewart Downing
I don't blame him for wanting to speak to City - it's an exciting time on the blue side of Manchester at the moment - but I hope he declines for now. A move to Eastlands would not be of benefit to anyone or anything but his bank balance.
Don't get me wrong; I back him to be a success eventually. But Bellamy has been their best player this season in his position. Johnson will not break into the City side over the next six months and earn a shock place in Fabio's World Cup 23 (though I wouldn't against him featuring in the next major tournament). And Boro will be left even further away from appeasing increasingly disgruntled supporters.
His Riverside contract expires at the end of this season, at which point he'll undoubtedly move on. Only difference is, wherever he goes, he'll leave haven given his first club every chance of promotion - however faint our hopes might be.
Now I'm not naive enough to think Johnson will be worried about his legacy at a club which barely showed faith in him until its previous left-wing wonder left the club. He owes us nothing.
But his talent isn't going to go away in the second half of a Chamionship season. In fact, his stock can only rise as he's guaranteed to dismantle many more second-tier defences between now and May.
Lee Miller (left) is unlikely to solve Boro's striking woes
In all honesty, this blog post is more a plea than a rationale. But it's about as much as I can muster amid thoughts of a Boro side Johnsonless. His sale would be like pulling the last incisor from our near-toothless penetration in the final third. Also, it would also be another stick for supporters to hit the club with - more apparent lack of ambition at the top of the hierarchy.
To top the gloomy prospect of Johnson leaving, Strachan was today linked with Lee Miller, a striker whose last stint in English football yielded eight goals in 42 games. And that was in League One. Hopefully the same person who was charged handling the paperwork on Chris Smalling's proposed transfer last season is dealing with Miller's too.
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