Johnson: Downing move on the cards

Middlesbrough youngster Adam Johnson believes it will not be long before team-mate Stewart Downing seeks a move to a “big team”.

Downing has repeatedly been linked with transfers to the likes of Liverpool and Tottenham in recent seasons but has remained loyal to the Teesside club that brought him through the ranks to become first-team star.

He has also been a regular in the England squad since making his international debut in 2005, although the majority of his 20 caps have come as a substitute.

It has frequently been suggested that the 24-year-old must prove himself with a more prominent Premier League club before he can hope to make the England left-wing berth his own and Johnson, who has seen his first-team chances at Boro limited by the presence of Downing, expects him to depart the Riverside before too long.

And if Downing chooses to remain with the north-east club, Johnson has warned manager Gareth Southgate that it will be him who opts to look elsewhere.

Johnson told www.setantasports.com: “Stewart Downing is obviously going to look to move to a big team soon. There has been a lot of talk about him moving. Who knows? He might move before I do.”

Of his own desire for first-team action, he added: “But if not, maybe I’ll have to find my own way soon – if I can’t get in, I can’t be hanging around forever.

“Maybe I could go out on loan or something in January and then come back and if I’m still not going to be part of it, then maybe you have got to look elsewhere.”