THE New Saints have swooped for former Derby County trainee and Stafford Rangers defender Jermaine Johnson who becomes the club's first summer signing.
The 20-year-old centre-half has put pen to paper on a two-year deal which seals his return to the full-time game.
Johnson spent the whole of last season at Marston Road after a three-month loan spell from Pride Park in 2009/10.
Notable by his absence at Rangers’ player of the year awards last Tuesday night, where he picked up the directors' award, Johnson was spending the week on trial at Scottish Premier League club Kilmarnock.
Johnson turned down a move to local rivals AFC Telford in March to assist Rangers’ fight against relegation from Blue Square North, a mission which ultimately proved unsuccessful, but the drop into the third tier of non-league football has proved too much of a step down for Johnson to take.
He said: "I wanted to get back into full-time football as quickly as possible and TNS have given me that opportunity.
"It’s just unfortunate that I couldn’t leave Stafford with a bang, they were a great bunch of lads at Rangers even though we were in a bad situation.
"The team spirit was top class and it’s all experience, at the end of the day, but it’s sad that Rangers had to pay the cost."
Johnson spent spells over the last two months of the season as acting captain, with regular skipper Craig McAughtrie out with a hip injury.
"I am delighted that Jermaine has agreed to join us," says TNS director of football Mike Davies. "Not only will he be a considerable asset, but I am sure he will continue to attract a great deal of interest from English clubs."
Photo: Jermaine Johnson after joining The New Saints today.