WENGER HAILS JOHNSON
Arsene Wenger firmly believes Andrew Johnson is more than capable of helping lead the England attack - and revealed he had once been tempted to sign the Everton forward.
Johnson has performed consistently following his ฃ8.6million summer move from Crystal Palace, scoring 11 goals for the Toffees.
And the 26-year-old is expected to partner Wayne Rooney up front for England in the forthcoming Euro 2008 qualifiers with Israel and Andorra.
Arsenal travel to Goodison Park on Sunday and Wenger is not surprised to see the former Birmingham man competing at the top level.
"Andy Johnson is a player who can help England," said the Gunners boss. "He is a good player, with the timing of his runs, the quality of his runs, his team ethic is fantastic and he never gives up.
"He can be one of the players who can compliment Rooney because Rooney is more of a second striker who can make the runs and you need another striker who can stretch the defence.
"If you look at England players who can stretch the defence, Andy Johnson is one of them as well as Michael Owen."
Wenger had kept a keen eye on the development of Johnson since his impressive spell in the Barclays Premiership with Crystal Palace during the 2004-2005 campaign, when the striker scored 21 league goals but could not keep the Eagles up.
He revealed he had considered making a move for Johnson when the future of captain Thierry Henry looked uncertain, but was put off by the price tag.
"I did consider him at one stage when he was at Crystal Palace, but the price stopped it happening," revealed the Arsenal boss. More
Johnson has performed consistently following his ฃ8.6million summer move from Crystal Palace, scoring 11 goals for the Toffees.
And the 26-year-old is expected to partner Wayne Rooney up front for England in the forthcoming Euro 2008 qualifiers with Israel and Andorra.
Arsenal travel to Goodison Park on Sunday and Wenger is not surprised to see the former Birmingham man competing at the top level.
"Andy Johnson is a player who can help England," said the Gunners boss. "He is a good player, with the timing of his runs, the quality of his runs, his team ethic is fantastic and he never gives up.
"He can be one of the players who can compliment Rooney because Rooney is more of a second striker who can make the runs and you need another striker who can stretch the defence.
"If you look at England players who can stretch the defence, Andy Johnson is one of them as well as Michael Owen."
Wenger had kept a keen eye on the development of Johnson since his impressive spell in the Barclays Premiership with Crystal Palace during the 2004-2005 campaign, when the striker scored 21 league goals but could not keep the Eagles up.
He revealed he had considered making a move for Johnson when the future of captain Thierry Henry looked uncertain, but was put off by the price tag.
"I did consider him at one stage when he was at Crystal Palace, but the price stopped it happening," revealed the Arsenal boss. More
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