As Johnson well knows, there is something far more calculated to the entire process now; every Premier League club has a loans manager or at least a committee whose job is to ensure academy talent or senior players not playing can be relocated to either aid their development or help ease numbers in the first team.
Whereas recalls previously tended to happen, and the vast majority still do, when a player isn’t receiving sufficient game time, the very specific plan around each individual is such that the clubs who take them on essentially become victims of their own success.
“It’s changed a lot. It’s gone from getting players out who aren’t playing for certain periods of time – one month, three months, six months – to something more strategic,” said Rob Newman, the former head of recruitment at West Ham who also spent 12 years in Manchester City’s international scouting department.
“If they’re playing well in the under-21s and they’re 18, 19, you come to the conclusion that they need men’s football. Is it suitable for the lad to go out?
“Because if he’s going to crumble under it, then it’s pointless, so you’re looking at putting him into an environment where he’s going to adapt well, so clubs are naturally careful.
“Clubs, say, in League One and League Two, will come in with presentations to showcase how they’re going to play, how they’d fit a player into that, what they want him to do etc.
“Don’t get me wrong, there are still some out there who may have personal connections at Premier League clubs and will ring to ask, ‘have you got a striker?’ just to get a body in.
“But, for the most part, there’s quite an extensive due diligence process from both the loaning club and those receiving the player.”