Brennan Johnson Completes Move to Everton: A Controversial Swap with McNeil

Brennan Johnson has completed a four-year move to Everton, just eight months after Crystal Palace paid a reported club-record £35 million to prise him from Tottenham – and his transfer has already sparked a war of words.

In a rare Premier League swap, Dwight McNeil has gone the other way to Selhurst Park. Two wingers, two stalled seasons, and one deal that has split opinion.

Johnson’s short stay in south London never caught fire. The Wales international failed to score in 26 games in all competitions for Palace after arriving from Spurs, his form drifting as quickly as the early excitement around the fee that brought him in.

McNeil’s campaign at Everton told a similar story. Once talked up as a future star during his Burnley days, the 26-year-old also ended the season without a goal, drawing a blank in 25 appearances for the Toffees as his confidence ebbed away.

That lack of end product became prime ammunition for pundits Jamie O’Hara and Gabriel Agbonlahor when news of the swap broke live on air.

“I like Dwight McNeil,” O’Hara said on talkSPORT. “Brennan Johnson has been a myth for a few seasons. He didn’t do it at Spurs. He hides in games.”

Agbonlahor jumped straight to the numbers, pointing out how little either player had offered in terms of goals and assists last season. “You look at their output last season,” he said, before reducing the swap to playground terms: “It’s a bit like ‘you give us him and we’ll give you him!’”

The tone only got harsher. As the pair laughed, O’Hara delivered the line that lit up social media: “We’ll give you crap, we’ll give you crap back!”

That clip, once posted on Instagram, quickly went viral. Johnson saw it – and chose not to let it slide. His response was short, sharp and cutting, dropped into the comments for everyone to see:

“Won more than both of these put together.”

Eight words, no emojis, and a clear reminder of his medal collection compared to two former pros now in the studio chairs.

With the backlash rolling, O’Hara moved to clarify his stance on X on Wednesday morning. He argued that the viral moment stripped away the nuance of the wider discussion.

“This [is] the [problem] when you only listen to a clip and not full story,” he wrote. He stressed that the criticism was aimed squarely at last season’s numbers, not at Johnson and McNeil as players. “We were talking about Brennan and McNeil’s stats from last season which were CRAP not that they were bad players. I’m a fan of McNeill and also said Brennan has all the attributes but he would admit his season was crap.”

Behind the noise, the reality for both wingers is stark. Johnson arrives at Everton needing to prove he is more than a big fee and a burst of pace. Under David Moyes at the Hill Dickinson Stadium, he will be expected to turn attributes into output, and to do it quickly.

McNeil, meanwhile, gets the reset he badly needs. A move to Selhurst Park offers a clean slate and a familiar kind of stage: a London club, a demanding crowd, and a manager who will expect him to rediscover the direct, fearless edge that once made him such a talked-about prospect.

They will not have long to settle. The fixture list has already circled their reunion in red.

Everton vs Crystal Palace. Opening weekend of the new Premier League season. Johnson against his old club. McNeil back at the ground he now calls home, facing the team that let him go.

For two wingers accused of hiding in games, there will be nowhere to hide then.