Fulham set to land Johnson
Fulham are set to smash their transfer record with the £12m signing of Everton striker Andrew Johnson.
The 27-year-old hitman was at Craven Cottage undergoing a medical yesterday and is expected to be unveiled as a Fulham player by boss Roy Hodgson in the next 24 hours.
Hodgson is keen to pair Johnson with his other new signing, Bobby Zamora, but knows he will have to break the club’s transfer record of £11.5m paid to Lyon to Steve Marlet in 2001 in order to lure the Everton man to west London.
Everton, meanwhile, will use the sale of Johnson to step up the chase for Sporting Lisbon midfielder Joao Moutinho. Boss David Moyes had an £11.8m bid turned down by Sporting on Sunday but could be set to use the Johnson money to up his offer for the unsettled Portugal international.
Former Crystal Palace striker Johnson is believed to want to return to London for family reasons but reportedly fell out with Moyes after refusing to play in a friendly at Preston when he heard a move to Fulham was imminent.
After the alleged row with Moyes, Johnson did not travel to Chicago with the squad and instead spent yesterday thrashing out personal terms with Hodgson after Fulham’s improved bid was accepted.
If he signs, Johnson will be Fulham’s eighth summer acquisition, following Mark Schwarzer, Andranik Teymourian, Zoltan Gera, David Stockdale, Toni Kallio, Zamora and John Pantsil to Craven Cottage