Brennan Johnson: Everton's New Forward to End Trophy Drought
Lee Trundle believes Everton have finally found the forward their supporters have been begging for – and he expects Brennan Johnson to embrace the weight of that demand.
Johnson has arrived at Hill Dickinson Stadium from Crystal Palace on a four-year deal, part of a swap that sent Dwight McNeil to Selhurst Park. At 25, with medals in his locker and promotion on his CV, he steps into a club that hasn’t lifted a trophy in 31 years but still carries the expectation of a giant.
For Trundle, an Everton fan who made his name at Wrexham, Swansea City, Bristol City and Leeds United, the fit between player and manager looks ideal.
“With Johnson coming in, I think that's a great signing and he's someone I'm excited about,” he said on the BBC’s Feast of Football podcast. “I think Moyes will get the best out of him, I think Moyes is a good manager for him.”
This is not blind optimism. Johnson’s career has been built on versatility and a willingness to do the hard yards. He has played wide, as a wing-back, through the middle. He has chased lost causes and run in behind. He has also delivered on big stages.
He helped fire Nottingham Forest back to the Premier League under Steve Cooper in 2021-22. At Tottenham Hotspur he went one step further, scoring the winner against Manchester United in a Europa League final. Last season, he lifted the Conference League with Crystal Palace.
Now comes a different type of test: being the man expected to finish the chances for a team that creates plenty but so often leaves the pitch ruing what might have been.
“If you look at Everton, they create a lot of chances, they just don't take the chances,” Trundle said. “I think if he's in those positions to get those chances, he takes more of them.”
That line cuts to the heart of David Moyes’ dilemma. Beto and Thierno Barry remain the current first-choice options through the middle, but neither has found the ruthless consistency required to silence the murmurs from the stands. Trundle can see Moyes making a bolder call.
He thinks Johnson could be used as a true number nine.
“He will go in behind, he'll score goals himself and create himself as well,” Trundle added, underlining the forward’s ability to both finish and fashion opportunities.
This is where the relationship with the crowd comes in. Everton supporters are demanding, but they are also fiercely loyal to players who deliver when it matters. Trundle is convinced Johnson can tap into that.
“I think he'll go in, and once he starts scoring, I think the fans will take to him,” he said. “I think he'll love being at a club like Everton because once you get in and score those goals, the fans will idolise you, especially because that's what they've been crying out for.”
The romance of that idea is clear. A new forward, a hungry fanbase, a manager who has built his reputation on organisation and squeezing every drop from his players. But there is a harder edge to life at Everton, and Nathan Blake is quick to highlight it.
The former Wales striker, who has watched Johnson’s rise with interest, offered a blunt reminder of the standards on Merseyside.
“Everton fans are demanding,” he said. “Whether you like it or not, it doesn't matter if you haven't won a trophy for a long time, that's a big club. I think there'll be more demand on him there.”
Johnson, who joined Palace in a then club-record deal in January before this latest move, will not be given unlimited time to settle. Blake believes the opening weeks will be crucial.
“Having Moyes and [assistant manager Billy] McKinlay could be a good thing, but if he doesn't produce in the first 10 to 15 games, it catches up with you,” he warned. “The coaching and the experience of Moyes and his backroom staff, they'll coach him to improve.”
That is the tightrope Johnson now walks. On one side, the chance to become the forward Everton fans “idolise”, in Trundle’s words. On the other, the reality Blake points to: a club that might not have paraded silverware for three decades, but still expects its big arrivals to deliver, and quickly.
Everton have given Johnson the stage, Moyes the project, and the fans another hope up front. The question now is whether a player who has already scored in European finals can shoulder the burden of being the man expected to end a drought that has hung over this club for a generation.
