Glen Johnson's rise from West Ham youngster to £6m Chelsea star was a rapid one to say the least, especially given the speed of the Hammer's decline at the same time.
He went on loan to Milwall in October 2002, where he made seven appearances, before returning to try and help West Ham's seemingly desperate plight at the foot of the Barclaycard Premiership table.
His first two substitute appearances would have cleared any doubt as to the size of that task, as they conceded four goals at Charlton and six at Man Utd. However, Johnson quickly emerged as a bright prospect.
So much so that, when the Hammers were relegated, he was one of the few to come away with any credit and was the first to be brought back into the top flight, as Chelsea paid a staggering £6million on him.
As Roman Abramovich's first major signing, his arrival was eclipsed by the bigger names which followed. However, while many struggled to hold down a first team place in the first season, Johnson performed admirably playing in over 30 games for the Blues. He scored four goals, yet failed to make any progress on the international scene. He is still young and has plenty of time to make an impact, but will certainly be looking to do so during the 2004/05 season.
However, Johnson's 2004/05 season was lived mainly in the shadow of Paulo Ferreira. Making his first Barclay's Premiership appearance in Chelsea's 4-0 drubbing of Blackburn Rovers, his first-team opportunites became more frequent as Mourinho called upon his sizeable squad to answer the demands of a successful season.
It was not until Ferreira was injured while on international duty that Johnson got his break, playing an important role in the latter part of Chelsea's Championship winning season.
The 2004/05 season also saw Johnson make a collection of successful appearances in Sven Goran-Erikson's England set-up. However, with Ferreira still keeping him out of the Chelsea side in 2005/06, he slipped away from contention for the national squad, and a couple of off-field incidents hampered his progress in the Under-21s.
In June 2006, Johnson tried to get his career back on track by moving to Portsmouth on loan for the 2006/07 season and he played consistently with the Fratton Park outfit. It was no surprise therefore when he moved there on a permanent deal in August 2007.
His first official season at Fratton Park was a successful one, ending in FA Cup Final glory at Wembley. However, the departure of Harry Redknapp in 2008/09 lead to a downturn at Portsmouth and they struggled against relegation for much of the campaign.
Johnson remained an impressive part of the back four however, and also added to his goal tally with a long-range strike against Hull that won the Match Of The Day Goal Of The Season award. Pompey avoided the drop, but Johnson became a target for Liverpool, Manchester City and former club Chelsea in the summer.
In June 2009 he left Fratton Park to join Liverpool for an undisclosed fee, believed to be around £18m.
