A phone call from Fernando Torres helped Liverpool save £17.5m transfer

A phone call from Fernando Torres helped persuade former Liverpool defender Glen Johnson to join the club in 2011 from Chelsea and Manchester City.

Johnson moved to Anfield in 2009 after three years at Portsmouth where he won an FA Cup and played European football.

After a brilliant performance at Fratton Park after leaving Chelsea, the defender established himself in the England team and as one of the best full-backs in the Premier League.

He moved to Liverpool and won the League Cup in 2012 and was a regular in the side that finished second in the Premier League under Brendan Rodgers in 2013/14.

Prior to his sacking in 2015, he made exactly 200 appearances as a Reds player in all competitions before spending the final three seasons of his career at Stoke.

Johnson has since spoken about what led to his joining Liverpool, rejecting advances from Manchester City and Chelsea, who were interested in re-signing him.

One of the Reds’ key players at the time was Fernando Torres, and the Spaniard was signed by Atletico Madrid in 2007.
He scored 38 Premier League goals in his first two seasons with the club. At the time, his ill-fated £50m move to Chelsea was still 18 months away.

And Johnson explained in a 2021 interview how the Liverpool forward, as well as teammates Steven Gerrard and Xabi Alonso, were instrumental in his decision to move to Anfield, despite Liverpool’s inability to consistently fight for the Premier League.

title in the seasons prior to his arrival. He told the Liverpool Echo: “Obviously when a club like Liverpool come knocking you have an eye and an interest.

“But what changed was that we played for England that summer, just before I signed, and I had a nice chat with Stevie. And then I also talked to Torres and Alonso before signing.

“I just thought these were some of the best players in the world. They didn’t have to call me, but they did call me to let me know how much they wanted me to participate. “I immediately felt like I knew her and felt super welcomed before I signed and everything went smoothly.”