The swap deal which saw Dwight McNeil change places with Brennan Johnson has drawn ridicule and derision from opposing supporters who consider the two wingers to be relatively useless having already enjoyed the best moments of their career at different clubs.
From Palace’s perspective, I feel as if we are the clear beneficiaries of the deal as we have acquired someone who has done us enough damage in the past for Everton in particular but also for former club Burnley.
Johnson’s move to the Eagles simply did not work. His arrival in January came at a time when we were in desperate need of reinforcements due to fixture congestion and injuries, meaning that anyone would do, even for a price tag as big as £35million.
Given the public outburst from Oliver Glasner on transfers, it felt as if the entirety of that transfer window was just a response to his frustrations, a knee jerk decision without real contemplation. Whilst Jorgen Strand Larsen may prove to be a better long-term investment, his elevated transfer fee was another indication of our rash recruitment policy during that month.
Palace supporters hoped more than they genuinely believed that Johnson could be a revelation. Feedback from Tottenham fans at the time should have been a more impactful warning. Despite scoring the Europa League clinching goal against Manchester United in Bilbao, the Welshman still wasn’t revered by the Spurs faithful. That was the first sign. The other was that they were pleased to see the back of him after he had fallen out of favour with Thomas Frank.
Despite his technical limitations one of his main strengths was popping up with the odd goal, making late back post runs that defenders couldn’t prevent. During the 2024/25 season under Aussie manager Ange Postecoglou, he racked up 18 goals and proved his worth by purely that statistic alone. However, upon arrival at Palace he was unable to recapture any of that stardust and provided just 1 assist without any goals in 25 matches.
In truth, the most important role Johnson played throughout the season was allowing the likes of Ismaila Sarr and Yeremy Pino to rest in preparation for the latter stages of the Conference League, as he started matches towards the back end of the Premier League season which had little to no significance on our campaign.
All this should provide enough evidence that his departure is justified, but the overall criticism of the club will rightly be the amount paid for such an ultimate disappointment. Johnson was reportedly the second-highest earner in the squad, behind only Palace’s new Norwegian striker. His departure therefore helps balance the books, particularly as McNeil is believed to be earning roughly half of Johnson’s salary.
Unfortunately, he simply wasn’t able to replicate the form he demonstrated at Nottingham Forest and the fact he swiftly left the club this summer also suggests that after pre-season training and fixtures out in Como and against Bromley, Pierre Sage didn’t consider Johnson to be a part of his plans for the new season.
Someone who will be however is McNeil who joins Palace having scored three times against us in the past, all of them coming for Everton. This included a brace against us in the 2024/25 season, one of which was a beautiful curled effort cutting in with his left foot to beat Dean Henderson. This goal in particular was reminiscent of many a goal scored by former Toffee and Eagle Andros Townsend during his time at Selhurst Park as he worked his way back onto his stronger foot having cut in from the right.
Similarly, just from purely an eye test on its own, it feels as if McNeil will suit Sage’s preferred formation better. The Frenchman is understood to play a formation previously used by Glasner in the 3-4-2-1 system, which utilises two number tens / wingers to play in behind the number nine, a position primarily occupied by John Philippe Mateta.
Johnson himself was an out and out winger, possessing the physical and technical attributes of someone who hugs the touchline and can burst behind opposition full backs before whipping in a cross on the edge of the box. However, under this system that role on the right-hand side is primarily taken up by wing back Daniel Munoz whilst the number 10 is placed in a more central position.
Ismaila Sarr has been able to adapt to that mandate better and was able to work off the Colombian, whilst during Sarr’s absence at the African Cup of Nations, Johnson wasn’t able to assimilate a similar relationship with Munoz due to instinctively blocking off his forward runs due to his natural positional tendencies. I believe McNeil can adapt to the requirement of the systems number 10 / winger more effectively.
For my money, the Englishman is more of a technician and doesn’t solely rely on his electric pace to penetrate defences, even though he is certainly no slouch. The dynamic attacker was widely regarded in the Burnley and Everton teams of the past as being one of the few creative sparks that could provide magical moments in otherwise rigid and organised sides.
The majority of his football has been played under resilient manager Sean Dyche whilst recent gaffer David Moyes is also known for his pragmatism. Under Sage it appears as if his teams express themselves with more freedom that may offer McNeil more moments in a Palace shirt to display his obvious talent and quality on the ball in advanced areas of the pitch.
Another key aspect to his game is his crossing and ability to deliver a wicked ball from out wide. Barring a few decent flashes across the box in the first leg of our Conference League Last 16 clash against AEK Larnaca, Johnson wasn’t able to provide for our strikers in a way that McNeil can. With a wand of a left foot he is someone who can provide for Mateta and Strand Larsen with ammunition as his assist record in the Premier League proves.
Palace will be competing on four fronts during the 2026/27 season again, with the Europa League potentially providing mouth-watering prospects. Whilst McNeil probably won’t be a starter in these high-profile fixtures it is very likely that he will play a starring role in the domestic cup competitions as well as coming off the bench in matches when we need some fresh impetus and inspiration.
One of the key derailing factors of Palace’s form as Christmas approached last season was a lack of squad depth and McNeil can provide this in the attacking areas as well as Aston Villa loanee Evann Guessand who was essentially a better version of Johnson last year.
Nonetheless, I still wish our former wide man all the best in his career as he conducted himself well on and off the pitch as a Palace player and in the history books will ultimately go down as a member of our European winning squad. However, I truly believe that the addition of McNeil in a swap deal not only aids our financial situation, but also improves our squad with the ability he undeniably possess.
Good luck to Brennan for the rest of his playing days, although hopefully his career ascension doesn’t begin on the opening day as we visit none other than Everton where will inevitably suffer our customary 2-1 defeat, compounded by a late Brennan Johnson winner!
