Liverpool are making Glen Johnson one of the highest paid defenders in the game. The Sun says Johnson hit the jackpot in his £18.5million move from Portsmouth yesterday with a £100,000-a-week, four-year deal worth a whopping £21m.

The England full-back, 24, had given the thumbs up to Liverpool last Thursday, but Manchester City made a late attempt to hijack the switch.

And that led to Johnson striking it rich. Kop boss Rafa Benitez had expected to get his man on far lower wages, yet when City entered the bidding it led to a hasty rethink on his personal terms.

Mark Hughes' men were prepared to pay £80,000 a week and Benitez had to trump that figure to complete his first major transfer of the summer.