Birmingham City step up bid for Cardiff defender Roger Johnson

Jun 9 2009 by Andy Walker, Birmingham Post

Cardiff City are understood to have rejected a second bid for centre-back Roger Johnson from Birmingham City.

Having had an initial £3.5 million offer knocked back just over three weeks ago, it now appears that Birmingham have also had their second, improved bid rebuffed by the Welsh club.

The latest package is believed to have been worth up to £5 million, but on closer inspection it appears it may not be as attractive for Cardiff as it seems.

It has been claimed that the initial cash down-payment was less than half of the headline figure and that only a series of add-ons, depending on Birmingham’s future success, would take it to the £5 million mark that the Bluebirds demand for the 26-year-old.

Johnson is fast becoming one of the most-wanted men outside of the top flight following a consistent series of campaigns with Cardiff since arriving for £275,000 from Wycombe Wanderers in July 2006.

The Surrey-born defender, who was named in the recent PFA Championship team of the year as well as claiming Cardiff’s player of the year award for the second successive season, has played more than 100 games during his time at Ninian Park.

Reports have suggested that Portsmouth and Sunderland, along with the latter’s recently relegated North East rivals Middlesbrough, are also showing interest in Johnson.

The fight to keep Johnson is just one of several battles that Cardiff, who narrowly missed out on the Championship play-offs, are bracing themselves for during this summer’s transfer window.

Wales international midfielder Joe Ledley and frontman Ross McCormack, the club’s top scorer with 23 goals, are also highly likely to attract top flight interest over the course of the next few weeks.

The latest rejection is likely to signal the end of Birmingham’s interest in Johnson, who is one of four centre-backs that are believed to have attracted firm bids from the Premier League new-boys.

The Blues have already had a cash plus Gary McSheffrey bid for Coventry City captain Scott Dann rejected while they are still talks over Ecuador international Giovanny Espinoza and Standard Liege’s American defender Oguchi Onyewu, who is soon to be a free agent.