Liverpool appear to have let slip their successful pursuit of Portsmouth defender Glen Johnson by including his surname for shirt printing on their online store.
It has been widely reported that Rafa Benitez has secured a £17 million deal for the England international but neither club has yet commented on the rumours.
The fact that ‘Johnson TBC’ appeared on a drop-down menu to choose shirt personalisation on Liverpool’s official online store suggests that a transfer is imminent, if not completed already.
However, Liverpool appeared to have removed the option to select Johnson's name at 9.30pm on Wednesday night.
Chelsea and Manchester City were also reported to have bid for the right back, who begun his career with West Ham before earning a move to Stamford Bridge in the early days of Roman Abramovich’s reign.
Having seemingly turned his back on a return to West London, Johnson should now become Liverpool’s first significant capture of what could be a busy summer at Anfield.
The news of Johnson’s imminent arrival is not the first time that replica shirts have made headlines.
Paul Ince famously angered West Ham fans when being pictured with a Manchester United shirt before his move to Old Trafford had been sealed and Robinho revealed in January that he moved to Manchester City after Real Madrid were angered by Chelsea’s decision to publish a photo of him on their official website.
Thanks to setanta.com reader ‘Me’ for alerting us to the story on our live transfer blog.