The 19-year-old centre back is a product of Sunderland’s academy and he also captained the England Under-18 side against Australia in June.
Sunderland agreed to a deal with National League outfit Hartlepool to send young Johnson on a one-month loan.
Johnson stated that the first-team environment is a massive step up from the academy structure and stressed that his main focus will be to gain as much first-team experience as possible.
“I think that for me, it is definitely about getting as much first-team experience as possible”, Johnson told Hartlepool’s media.
“Because I think there is a huge step up from the Under-21s development programme to being in a first-team environment when every point matters.
“So I think getting a lot of experience in that is going to be one main aspect of why I have come here.”
Johnson has made two senior appearances for Sunderland and one of them came during this season’s EFL Cup campaign against Crewe Alexandra.
