Liverpool’s Glen Johnson follows van Persie in seeking placenta therapy

England defender Glen Johnson yesterday flew into Serbia to become the latest big-name Premier League star to have placenta therapy.

Johnson and Liverpool team-mate Fabio Aurelio both went to see physio Mariana Kovacevic for treatment on their calf injuries.

It comes after Mirror Sport revealed that Manchester United winger Zoran Tosic, 22, has also been after Kovacevic leapt to public attention by treating Arsenal striker Robin van Persie.

Dutch striker van Persie is hoping that Kovacevic can speed up his recovery from ruptured ankle ligaments with her bizarre treatment of injecting placenta fluid and then massaging it into the injury.

Van Persie, hoping to reduce what he hopes will be a six week lay-off, told a Serbian TV station: "The treatment is going well. I hope it will help." 

But the controversy surrounding Kovacevic's methods are likely to intensify after it was claimed in Serbia that she uses HUMAN placenta fluid to treat patients rather than cow and horse fluid.

It is supposed to strengthen the damaged muscles and ligaments and help speed up recovery time and Johnson and Aurelio have both missed recent games for club and country with their respective calf problems.

Johnson missed England's friendly with Brazil in Qatar and is desperate to get back to full fitness in World Cup year. Johnson and Aurelio both refused to talk to TV reporters when they arrived at Belgrade airport yesterday.

Players from Chelsea and Manchester City have also been to see Serbian housewife Kovacevic who   runs her clinic from a basic surgery near Belgrade.

But Kovacevic has been able to convince big-name multi-million pound stars to Serbia for treatment after several members of the country's national squad claimed her methods drastically reduced recovery time.