Not least Mark Lawrenson. In the days when £1million fees were still big news, eyebrows were raised when £900,000 was forked out to Brighton for the centre-back in 1981.

However, he made a seamless transition into the Liverpool success story – because the pressure of being the club’s record signing never registered with him.

“What Glen Johnson needs to do is be himself, not think of himself as the £17million man,” said Johnson.

“Nobody goes on about Fernando Torres’s transfer fee now do they? He’s just Torres, world class striker, not Torres record signing.

“It’s a lot of money for a defender but the thing is, he’s not just a defender. When I signed, Bob Paisley told everyone I could play in a few different positions and that made it look like a wiser investment.

“That took the pressure off me straight away and I think Benitez could do the same with Johnson.

“He’s not just a right-back, he can attack and go forward as well. In fact, a full-back in the modern game is one of the most versatile and valuable roles anyway.

“They have as much of the ball as anyone else these days and being on the ball is where Johnson is at his most comfortable so he should be okay. So I don’t think the £17m Liverpool have spent should be seen as particularly extravagant.”

Lawrenson also believes the nature of the market could help to explain why Johnson has lined the Pompey pockets so heavily.

This is the summer of £80million world record transfer fees, just as the buys of Scales and Babb came hot on the heels of the cash-happy Premier League revolution.

Back in 1979, the British transfer record doubled from £500,000 to £1million in the space of a month when Trevor Francis joined Nottingham Forest – and that inflated climate also helped to make Lawrenson’s price tag more justifiable. There were a few million pound playrs about when I joined Liverpool,” he added. “Trevor Francis was the first but there was Steve Daly and Andy Gray just after that so by that time anything under £1m wasn’t big news.

In fact, the media I did at the time,. I wasn’t really asked about the transfer fee.

“I can’t see that happening to Johnson, the way things are hyped these days, I’m sure a big thing will be made of the price tag when he gets round to doing interviews.

“But it’s not his fault, it’s just circumstances. This is a lad who is England’s first choice right-back and players like that – well, you just can’t pinch them any more.”