Bidding for Johnson starting...

pretty good deal if you ask me proven prem scorer and 4 million.

Baggies up the ante for AJ

West Brom boss Bryan Robson will spark a bidding war for Andrew Johnson by offering Crystal Palace ?4m plus Robert Earnshaw for him.

Robson was knocked back by Palace earlier this summer when he put an offer of ?2m plus Wales striker Earnshaw on the Selhurst Park table.

But the Eagles have since seen 24-year-old Johnson slap in a transfer request as he wants to stay in the frame for 2006 World Cup contention - and knows playing in the Championship will not help his cause.

The Baggies face stiff competition for Johnson's signature should their bid be accepted by Palace chairman Simon Jordan, as Tottenham, Birmingham, Sevilla and Atletico Madrid have expressed an interest.

But Robson's troops would appear to have the upper hand, as they are offering cash which could strengthen Iain Dowie's squad, a proven goalscorer at Championship level in Earnshaw and a guarantee of first-team football for Johnson.

If the England striker opted for a move to Tottenham or Blues he would face tough competition for a place, battling the likes of Robbie Keane, Fredi Kanoute, Mido and Jermain Defoe at White Hart Lane - and Emile Heskey, new-boy Mikael Forssell and Clinton Morrison at St Andrews.

Johnson would no doubt become first-choice hitman at The Hawthorns, where veterans Kevin Campbell and Geoff Horsfield largely kept Earnshaw out of the starting line-up under Robson last season.

And he would opt to stay in England, rather than move to Spain, as Sven-Goran Eriksson would be able to keep a closer eye on his progress.

Posted By: loz on June 24th 2005 at 11:07:07

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