Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini is playing patience with Patrick Vieira as he looks to add to his midfield options.
While Vieira remains sidelined with a calf injury - he could make his debut against Hull next week - the Italian boss admits Adam Johnson is on his radar.
However Mancini remains guarded about the prospect of recruiting the Middlesbrough winger before the transfer window closes on Monday.
Johnson, 22, is known to be keen on a move to Eastlands but it is understood the valuation remains a sticking point.
It is believed City have tabled a £5million bid for the player, who has scored 12 times this term and is out of contract at the end of the season.
Mancini said: "He is a good, young player but we have respect for him and the club. We will see (what happens)."
Vieira will sit out the match against Portsmouth on Sunday as City nurse him through the injury.
Mancini explained: "Patrick is very unlucky. We do not want to risk him yet. "I want him to be right so he can play for a long time and get a run of games under his belt."
Mancini is tinkering with his squad and Benjani could be set for a move to Sunderland.
He would follow Robinho out of the door after the Brazilian clinched a loan move to Santos yesterday.
Even though Roque Santa Cruz remains absent with a calf injury, Mancini believes he has enough cover up front to cope.
"We have a lot of strikers at the club and I hope Roque will recover in 10 days," he said.
Mancini insists Robinho still has a future at the club. He said: "Robinho played very well last season but this time he made a poor recovery from injury.
"I told Robinho I could not guarantee he would play in every game because we have other strikers.
"But after the World Cup I think he can make it here. He will come back because for me, he is a fantastic player and he has a good talent."
City are looking to bounce back from the heartbreaking Carling Cup semi-final defeat by Manchester United when they face Portsmouth.
That loss to their local rivals threw the spotlight back on chief executive Garry Cook.
After winning the first leg he boasted to supporters in a New York bar that the tie was as good as over and City would go on to become the biggest and best club in the world.
Cook was certainly wrong on the first count but the club have condemned a report claiming the owners will give serious thought to his position at the end of the season.
A City spokesperson said: "This is an isolated and ill-informed piece of speculation, which is completely without foundation."
While City have riches at their disposal, Portsmouth are at the opposite end of the scale with huge financial problems.
Mancini, however, is only concerned about getting back on track and staking a claim for a top four place.
He said: "We think we are a strong team. Okay we lost to United but that is football. We played well.
"The important thing was that in two games we played at the same level as United. I am pleased with that. Now we have to focus on the game on Sunday, which is very important."
