Everton and Crystal Palace Swap McNeil for Johnson: A Strategic Move
Everton and Crystal Palace have shaken hands on one of the more intriguing deals of the window: a straight swap of Dwight McNeil for Brennan Johnson, with both players heading for medicals and four-year contracts that include a club option for an extra 12 months.
No add-ons. No drawn-out auction. Two clubs, two wingers, one clean trade.
A move that’s been coming
For McNeil, this has been a long time in the making. Palace tried to prise him away in January, only for the deal to collapse at the last moment when paperwork wasn’t filed in time. Now, seven months on, they are finally getting their man.
The 26-year-old has swung between indispensable and expendable at Everton in recent seasons. Under David Moyes his influence has faded, his minutes trimmed, his status reduced from pillar to puzzle. With only a year left on his deal, Everton were staring at the classic Premier League dilemma: cash in now, or risk losing him for nothing next summer.
They’ve chosen the former, and done so in a way that fills a long-standing gap in their squad.
Johnson’s reset button
Everton’s interest in Brennan Johnson is not a knee-jerk reaction. He has been on their radar for years, surviving changes in recruitment staff and shifts in strategy. They’ve watched him at Nottingham Forest. They’ve watched him at Tottenham. They’ve seen enough to believe there’s a player worth backing.
Crystal Palace saw it too when they paid £35 million to bring him in from Spurs last January. On paper, it looked like a coup. On grass, it never really ignited.
Johnson’s numbers at Selhurst Park tell a stark story: 26 appearances in all competitions last season, no goals. For a forward on major wages, that is a brutal return. The contrast with his previous record is sharp. At Tottenham he scored 27 times in 107 games, and in the 2024/25 campaign alone he hit 18 goals in all competitions.
That version of Brennan Johnson – the direct, confident finisher – is the one Everton believe they can revive.
Wages, risk and reward
From Palace’s point of view, the logic is clear. Johnson’s form has dipped, his confidence has taken a hit, and his salary is heavy. At £130,000 per week, he sits among the club’s top earners. Moving him on doesn’t just change the squad; it changes the wage bill.
This swap lets Palace do two things at once: finally land McNeil, a player they came within a whisker of signing in January, and clear a significant weekly outlay without having to wait for a traditional transfer bid to land.
Everton, on the other hand, are stepping into the financial space Johnson leaves behind. If they match his Palace salary – which is not yet confirmed – he will immediately become one of the highest-paid players at Hill Dickinson Stadium. That is a statement of faith as much as a line on a balance sheet.
They are betting that Moyes can tap into the version of Johnson that lit up Tottenham and Nottingham Forest. The one who stretches defences, runs in behind, and finishes with conviction rather than hesitation.
Why it suits both sides
For Everton, the alternative was unpalatable. Keep McNeil, use him for another season, and then watch him walk away for free. Instead, they turn a diminishing asset into a 25-year-old forward with proven Premier League output, albeit one coming off a poor campaign.
The club have admired Johnson for a long time. This is not a panic move to plug a gap; it’s a long-held target finally landing in the right circumstances.
For Palace, this is a reset. McNeil offers work-rate, delivery and structure from wide areas, attributes that fit neatly into a system that often demands discipline as much as flair. They also remove a high earner who has struggled to justify his pay packet and give him a fresh start elsewhere, rather than trying to salvage his value in a market that has already seen his stock fall.
Crucially, Johnson himself is ready for a new challenge. A year of toil without a goal will do that to any forward. A different shirt, a different crowd, a different manager – sometimes that’s what flips the switch.
A gamble worth taking?
Every swap deal carries a question. Who will look back and feel they got the better of it?
If Johnson rediscovers the form that brought him 18 goals in a single season for Spurs, Everton will feel they’ve pulled off a coup: a prime-age attacker, locked in on a long-term deal, capable of changing games in a side that has often lacked cutting edge.
If McNeil thrives at Selhurst Park, Palace will argue they finally secured the wide man they wanted all along, and did so while cleaning up their wage structure.
For now, both clubs can claim this makes sense on paper. The real verdict will come when Johnson pulls on blue, McNeil lines up in red and blue, and the numbers start to move again.
