How do we know? How do you know? All I know is that Rodgers 48 hours ago said we'd hopefully be getting some signings in the next 48 hours. That shows either he was looking at close to being done deals, or he was lying.
I don't think he'd lie this early in his career, so perhaps there were some signings lined up. Not all were possible loans - we didn't expect to buy Assaidi but we did, for cheap.
As for Johnson, I'm really not convinced he'd help us... Downing has pace, proven crosser, etc. and he's awful. Johnson is like a Downing 2.0, albeit a small upgrade. He's 25

, a year younger than Charlie Adam. I know the BBC and everyone used to cream themselves over mention of his name but looking at his career it's very sad to see someone with so little desire to succeed. His learning and improvement stalled 2 years ago, since then he's been happy to play off the bench.
We need a striker, a finisher. He doesn't even need to be technical, as long as he's the type that could score if the ball hit him square in the nose. As for that winger role, Assaidi has to be at least better than Downing and Sterling must be feeling great - he's just moved closer to some appearances.
Oh, and Borini, not good enough? Well why didn't you ring up Rodgers and say something before we signed him? Could have saved us a fortune.