East London Retirement Home for Right Backs linked to ex-Hammer Glen Johnson

The powers-that-be are not content to allow a single over 30 right back who is set to be a free agent go without being linked to West Ham United. Glen Johnson, who the Stoke Sentinel is reporting that will be a free agent in the summer after failing to appear a minimum amount of times for Stoke City this year, is the latest player to be linked to “solve” the right back problem at West Ham.

Johnson was famously one of the young stars at West Ham when the club was relegated after the 2002-2003 season. Johnson, who has 54 appearances for the English national team, transferred to Chelsea after West Ham was relegated. He continued his career after Chelsea, appearing for Portsmouth and then made 160 appearances in six years with Liverpool from 2009-2015. He signed with Stoke on a free transfer in July of 2015.

While a Glen Johnson homecoming would be welcomed at the London Stadium, along with Jermain Defoe, this all seems a bit silly to be constantly linked to players that are over 30 and appear to be past their primes. This also has a the appearance of pandering to the fan base, as many Hammer fans are still upset that the team allowed players such as Johnson and Joe Cole head to Chelsea, and Defoe and Michael Carrick head to Tottenham and play key roles in the success of their London rivals and make England appearances after the team that “was too good to go down” went down in flames and was relegated.

Joe Cole already came back to East London, and while he was good, he was not the great player he was while he was helping Chelsea win league titles and European fixtures. Similarly, Glen Johnson is not the same player as he was when he transferred to Liverpool from Portsmouth. Rather than focus on bringing in older stars that are past their sell-by date, West Ham should be looking for the next set of young players that will go on to appear for England and win league titles.