Chelsea and City were more than willing to pay the £17million that Liverpool played for Johnson as well.
I've no problem with the signing. We were lacking a threat from the full-backs last year, something which many said needed fixing. Benitez did that. Though he hasn't had the best couple of months, I think Johnson's signing is a good one. Was he over-priced? Probably, but not by much.
I also think he's got lucky with Aquilani. It's not the first instance of an injured player joining a big club but it's become evident that Liverpool don't have the depth to accomodate such a long absence from a player in the £15-20m bracket.
I'm on Rafa's side and every other Liverpool supporter owes it to the manager to do the same. They stood by Houllier through worse, imo.