Brennan Johnson Set for Everton Medical in Swap Deal

Brennan Johnson is set for an Everton medical today as the club close in on a straight swap deal with Crystal Palace that will send Dwight McNeil to Selhurst Park.

The agreement between the clubs is in place, with both players due to complete their medicals before the move is finalised. Transfer specialist Fabrizio Romano has stated that “everything is done” at club level, leaving only the formalities before the deal is confirmed.

For Everton, this is a significant reshaping of their wide options. Johnson, 25, will become their fifth signing of the summer window, joining Hayden Hackney, Christian Nørgaard, and permanent arrivals Merlin Röhl and Tyrique George. It is a clear attempt to inject more direct running, speed, and end product into Sean Dyche’s attack.

Palace, meanwhile, finally get their man. Their interest in McNeil has been long-standing, with a January move breaking down on deadline day. This time there are no late twists: McNeil heads south, Johnson north, in what is understood to be a straight swap with no additional fee involved.

For Johnson, the move offers a badly needed reset.

He arrived at Crystal Palace in January for around £35m, carrying the weight of that fee and the expectation that he would immediately transform their forward line. It never quite clicked. A difficult half-season followed, and the explosive form that lit up his spell at Tottenham Hotspur in 2024/25 felt a long way off.

That season at Spurs is exactly what Everton are gambling on rediscovering.

Johnson scored 18 goals in 51 appearances in all competitions in 2024/25, including 11 Premier League goals in 33 games. He wasn’t just productive; he was analytically elite. Per 90 minutes, the Wales international ranked second among Premier League wingers for expected goals, non-penalty expected goals, dribble success rate, and duels won percentage, and he sat fifth for goal conversion.

Those numbers paint the picture of a winger who doesn’t just threaten – he lives in dangerous areas, beats his man, and turns chances into goals. That is exactly the profile Everton have lacked on a consistent basis.

The club will believe Goodison Park can be the stage where that version of Johnson re-emerges: the direct runner, the relentless presser, the wide forward who stretches defences and still arrives in the box with conviction.

Palace, for their part, gain a different type of wide player in McNeil – a left-footer with a strong work rate, delivery from wide areas, and Premier League experience. They have waited the best part of a year to get this deal done. Everton, in turn, are betting that swapping him for Johnson tilts their attack towards greater dynamism and goal threat.

If the medical goes to plan, Everton’s summer rebuild will have its headline winger. The question now is simple: can Brennan Johnson turn those underlying numbers back into goals and become the cutting edge Goodison has been crying out for?