Michael Johnson

Club career Youth career Johnson began his youth career with Leeds United, joining Excelsior in 2000 and Everton in 2002. He joined his only senior club Manchester City in 2004, graduating to the first team in 2006. He was part of the Manchester City youth team that reached the 2006 FA Youth Cup Final.

Johnson was skipper of the FA Youth Cup runners-up team in the absence of Micah Richards during the 2005–06 season and became the 20th Academy Graduate to progress from Platt Lane to the City first team, making his debut away for manager Stuart Pearce at Wigan on 21 October 2006. His ability to run with the ball, score goals and operate box-to-box caught the eye both locally and nationally.

Manchester City

On 21 October 2006, he was rewarded for his progress and made his Manchester City debut in the Premier League, in a 4–0 defeat by Wigan Athletic at the JJB Stadium.

He scored his first goal for City in a 1–0 win over Derby County on 15 August 2007 at the City of Manchester Stadium; the first home league goal City had scored since the new year. Johnson spent the end of 2007 and early 2008 out of the team with an abdominal injury during which time he would have a double-hernia operation. He returned to action on 29 February 2008, playing the full 90 minutes in City's goal-less home draw with Wigan. Johnson made his first appearance of the 2009–10 season on 28 September 2009 in a 3–1 victory over West Ham United, coming on as a sub for Gareth Barry.

On 27 July 2011, Johnson signed a season-long loan deal with Leicester City, managed by former Manchester City manager Sven-Göran Eriksson. However, his loan spell ended prematurely, in January 2012, when he sustained an injury, Johnson had only made four competitive first team appearances for City in his final five seasons, failing to make a single appearance for the club in the last three campaigns.

The apparent demise of his promising career was lamented by a number of those that had worked with him. Former Manchester City teammate Dietmar Hamann described him as an "outstanding" midfielder that reminded him of his Germany teammate Michael Ballack.

Personal life Johnson was born in Urmston, Greater Manchester. In September 2012 he was fined a total of £5,500 for all three offences by Manchester Magistrates Court.

In an interview with the Manchester Evening News following his release from Manchester City, he stated that he had been under treatment for several years by The Priory Clinic for mental health problems. Johnson added that he "would be grateful if I could now be left alone to live the rest of my life."

In January 2015, Johnson opened his own estate agent's business in his hometown of Urmston.

Career statistics