Johnson, a midfielder, was another player Sven Goran Eriksson knew well from his time as manager of Manchester City, and signed him on a year-long loan in July 2011.

The midfielder came through the youth set-up at Everton but signed for Manchester City in 2004. He was part of their youth team that reached the 2006 FA Youth Cup Final and made his Premier League debut for the senior side in a 4-0 defeat to Wigan Athletic.

He quickly established himself as one of City's stars in the making, enjoying a good run in the first team, but an abdominal injury kept him out injured towards the end of 2007 and the start of 2008. He returned to first team affairs in February 2008 but a recurrence of his abdominal problems saw him sidelined for almost a year, which in turn saw him drop down the pecking order with the club.

Keen to get back to his best, Johnson opted for a loan move to Leicester in the summer of 2011, mainly thanks to the faith of former boss Eriksson. Still young at the age of 23 when he joined the Foxes, Johnson made his debut in the 4-1 League Cup triumph at Rotherham United.