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Brennan Johnson: Everton's New Forward for David Moyes
Lee Trundle has no doubts. In his eyes, Everton have just landed a forward tailor-made for David Moyes – and a fanbase desperate for a new hero.
Brennan Johnson’s move from Crystal Palace to Merseyside, in a deal that sent Dwight McNeil the other way to Selhurst Park, has split opinion outside the club. Inside the game, among those who know his game and Everton’s needs, the verdict is sharper. This is a gamble with serious upside.
Trundle, the former Wrexham, Swansea City, Bristol City and Leeds United striker – and a committed Evertonian – believes the 25-year-old Wales international has exactly the profile to light up Hill Dickinson Stadium.
“With Johnson coming in, I think that's a great signing and he's someone I'm excited about,” he said on the BBC’s Feast of Football podcast, making it clear this is not just polite approval. It’s expectation.
A manager who suits the player
Johnson has worked across the front line throughout his career. Wide on either flank. As a wing-back. Through the middle. Coaches have trusted his work-rate and versatility, using him to plug gaps and stretch games.
Moyes may see something different: a finisher.
“I think Moyes will get the best out of him, I think Moyes is a good manager for him,” Trundle said, backing the Scot to strip away the noise and give Johnson a defined role.
Everton’s long-standing problem is no secret. They build attacks, they carve out chances, then too often watch them go begging. Beto and Thierno Barry, the current first-choice options, have flickered rather than burned. The numbers haven’t matched the volume of opportunities.
“If you look at Everton, they create a lot of chances, they just don't take the chances,” Trundle pointed out. “I think if he's in those positions to get those chances, he takes more of them.”
That is the crux. Not a complete reimagining of Everton’s attack, but a sharper edge to what already exists.
A No 9 in waiting?
Trundle can see Johnson operating as a central striker under Moyes, rather than being pushed wide or asked to track full-backs for 90 minutes.
“If you look at Everton” – he kept coming back to this – the issue is conversion, not creation. Johnson’s instincts, his willingness to run beyond defenders, offer a different threat to the more static presence Everton fans have grown used to.
“He will go in behind, he'll score goals himself and create himself as well,” Trundle added. The emphasis was on movement, on a forward who doesn’t just wait for service but actively disturbs back lines.
For a fanbase that has “been crying out for” a clinical forward, as Trundle put it, the fit feels obvious. Score goals at Everton and the relationship escalates quickly.
“I think he'll go in, and once he starts scoring, I think the fans will take to him,” he said. “I think he'll love being at a club like Everton because once you get in and score those goals, the fans will idolise you.”
That word – idolise – carries weight on the blue half of Merseyside.
A winner walking into a drought
Johnson is not walking into this blind. He has already lived through promotion pressure and European nights.
At Nottingham Forest, he helped Steve Cooper’s side climb out of the Championship in 2021-22, playing a central role in their surge back to the Premier League. At Tottenham Hotspur, he went a step further in Europe, winning the Europa League and scoring the winner in the final against Manchester United. Last season, he lifted the Conference League with Crystal Palace.
He arrives at a club where the honours board has gathered dust for 31 years.
That contrast matters. Everton’s wait for silverware has only hardened the demands of their supporters. The standards haven’t dropped, only the returns.
Former Wales striker Nathan Blake believes Johnson’s medal collection will count for little if he doesn’t ignite quickly on Merseyside.
“Everton fans are demanding,” Blake said. “Whether you like it or not, it doesn't matter if you haven't won a trophy for a long time, that's a big club. I think there'll be more demand on him there.”
The message is blunt: past glories won’t buy him time.
No time for a slow burn
Johnson joined Palace in January for what was then a club-record fee. Now he finds himself in another high-pressure move, this time into a stadium where patience is in short supply and every miscontrol is dissected.
Blake is convinced the forward will need to hit his stride almost immediately.
“Having Moyes and [assistant manager Billy] McKinlay could be a good thing, but if he doesn't produce in the first 10 to 15 games, it catches up with you,” he warned.
Ten to fifteen games. That is the window Blake sees for Johnson to show he can carry the weight of the shirt, the history, the expectation.
Everton, for their part, are betting that Moyes and his staff can refine the player they have bought, not just rely on what he has already shown.
“The coaching and the experience of Moyes and his backroom staff, they'll coach him to improve,” Blake added.
The stage is set: a demanding crowd, a manager with a clear idea, a forward with medals in his bag and something to prove in a new shade of blue.
If Brennan Johnson turns chances into goals in that opening stretch, he won’t just be another signing. He’ll be the striker Everton have been waiting on for a generation.
