Everton, Crystal Palace complete McNeil-Johnson swap

Everton and Crystal Palace have completed a swap deal involving Dwight McNeil and Brennan Johnson.

The Toffees have confirmed 25-year-old Johnson has signed a four-year contract while McNeil moves in the opposite direction and has also agreed a deal until 2030.

26-year-old McNeil was close to joining Palace in February, when the Eagles agreed a loan-to-buy deal that would have turned into a £20m permanent move this summer.

However, the transfer fell through despite McNeil having passed a medical because the required paperwork could not be completed in time.

It prompted his partner Megan Sharpley to accuse the Eagles of toying with his mental health via a social media post.

Johnson joined Tottenham Hotspur from Nottingham Forest for a fee in excess of £45m in 2023 and scored their winning goal in the Europa League final last May.

The 25-year-old signed for Palace in a £35m deal in January and made 26 appearances in all competitions but failed to score during his time at Selhurst Park.

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Johnson said he feels the move to Everton “is a really good match”

Johnson, who has 45 caps for Wales, told Everton’s TV channel he “immediately wanted to come and be part” of the club when told of the Toffees’ interest.

“There were a lot of reasons why I was so keen to join, the manager, the players, the direction the team is going in,” he added.

“You can see this is a club that wants to go in the right direction, and I’m a player who wants to go in that direction too, so it feels like a really good match.”

Everton finished 13th in the Premier League last season following a disappointing run of results at the end of the campaign.

However, Johnson believes the club will strive to do “everything to get back into European competition”, adding that “Everton has the ambition to win trophies – and I believe we can do it.”

McNeil, meanwhile, joined Everton from Burnley for £20m in July 2022, and has scored 15 goals and provided 19 assists in 128 games in all competitions.

Palace have won the FA Cup, Community Shield and Europa Conference League in the last two seasons, and that is exciting McNeil about the move.

“The lads have had some great success over the last two seasons. It’s something that I want to be a part of, so I’m really looking forward to getting started,” he said.

Palace chairman Steve Parish said McNeil is “a player with proven ability in the Premier League”.

Everton and Palace face each other at Hill Dickinson Stadium on 22 August, the opening weekend of the Premier League campaign.

(BBC)