Tottenham Hotspur are lining up an ambitious move to bring Nottingham Forest starlet Brennan Johnson to North London and in-form Spurs are expected to firm up their interest in the 22-year-old later this week.
Johnson has started the fresh campaign in impressive style and while the winger has yet to register a goal or an assist, he has caused numerous problems for opponents down the flanks and the Welsh international was particularly eye-catching against Arsenal and Manchester United.
Those performances against some of the Premier League’s biggest names are likely to have piqued Tottenham’s interest in bringing Johnson to the capital.
Johnson lodged eight goals and three assists in 33 Premier League starts for Forest last season in what was his first-ever top-flight campaign.
How much is Brennand Johnson worth?
News about Tottenham’s pursuit of Johnson is now widespread and several outlets have already indicated that it will take a fee in the region of £50m to prise the wide attacker away from Nottingham Forest.
Johnson – a local lad who has been with the club since 2019 – is the jewel in the crown at Forest and his current employers are unlikely to allow him to exit the City Ground without a fight and without a large chunk of compensation.
Some reports have suggested that Tottenham will want to include some players in a part-exchange deal for Johnson, though it’s unclear yet as to whether the Tricky Trees would be interested in such an agreement. Out-of-favour defender Eric Dier is among the players that could be offered to Forest.
With Johnson listed as a home-grown player, any sale would add a huge amount of spending power to Nottingham’s transfer kitty for the rest of the window with fees for academy graduates counting as pure profit on the books in relation to FFP.
With transfer fee amortisation a major factor in the realm of buying and selling footballers, a £50m influx for an academy-produced starlet could allow Forest to splurge three times that amount on new recruits.
Tottenham, prepared to approach Nottingham Forest for Brennan Johnson this week. Ange Postecoglou has already approved this potential move ⚪️ #THFC
Not easy deal as Forest already rejected big proposals but interest in Brennan is growing now. pic.twitter.com/f7ReXPcKFg
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) August 28, 2023
Johnson hot property this summer
Brennan Johnson has been targeted by a couple of Premier League suitors already this summer. Brentford launched a failed bid of £40m for the 22-year-old earlier in the window, while Chelsea were also believed to have sniffed around the flanksman.
The Blues never solidified their interest in Johnson however, and now Tottenham have moved themselves into pole position for his signature.
Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou is keen to add some more variety to his frontline, though the Australian manager isn’t keen on replacing Harry Kane with a like-for-like striker, if the gossip from North London holds weight.
Instead, Postecoglou wants a more fluid, dynamic front three that would allow for greater cutting edge across the final third rather than the almost singular goal threat that was provided by Kane.
In Tottenham’s first three matches under Ange Postecoglou, Spurs played plenty of crisp easy-on-the-eye football with virtually all of their outfield players involved in the teams’ attacking maneuverers are different times.
Johnson’s pace, unselfish running and ability to break lines are all attributes that would allow him to thrive in Postecoglou set-up, so it will be interesting to see if Tottenham can get this deal over the line by transfer deadline day.
