Hodgson: I haven't thought about AJ

Rumours were abound on Friday morning that a deal over the Summer in which Peter Odemingie would leave West Bromwich Albion and Fulham's Andrew Johnson would go the other way was becoming increasingly viable. However, West Brom manager and former Fulham boss, Roy Hodgson, has now moved to deny the possibility on both counts.

Johnson is now highly expected to leave Craven Cottage at the end of this campaign with his contract due to expire in June. There have been murmurs circulating that the former Crystal Palace forward may be on the verge of signing a new deal but nothing has come close to being confirmed yet. Martin Jol has always been quick to sing his praises but it was thought, that with Hodgson's obvious connection with Johnson - he brought him to Fulham in 2008 - that he may well jump at the chance to take him to the Hawthorns.

In return, he would put Peter Odemwingie on a plate, having supposedly fallen out with the Nigerian forward earlier in the season. Despite this rift, though, Odemwingie has still impressed under Hodgson this year, scoring nine goals.

As such, his manager made it clear that he didn't see Odemwingie leaving the Midlands and, on top of that, the former Fulham boss claimed Andrew Johnson hadn't even crossed his mind.

"Peter Odemwingie is an important player for us and a player we believe in and a player we want to keep and a player who is not for sale," said Hodgson. "We don't welcome offers for Peter Odemwingie. He is a West Brom player at the moment and will be next season.

"We want to keep him and he is under contract. Very simple really. It is very irritating when people just out of the blue suddenly start linking us with other players.

"I presume the link with Andy Johnson is based on the fact we worked together at Fulham and it is a player I admire as a footballer. He did a great job for me but, to be fair, he is not a player we've actually discussed in terms of next season."