Crystal Palace close in on £35m Brennan Johnson deal and aim to have Spurs winger in squad for clash with Newcastle

Per the Telegraph, Johnson is set to undergo a medical within the next 24 hours ahead of completing a £35m move to Selhurst Park. Palace are hoping to have the winger in their squad for their fixture against Newcastle United this weekend. Johnson has fallen down the pecking order in north London following the summer signing of Mohammed Kudus and has struggled for minutes under manager Thomas Frank. In total, this season, he has made just six starts. He did end last season as the club's top scorer, though, after netting 18 goals in all competitions. 

Palace are set to break their transfer record to bring the Wales international into the club. They previously paid £27m to sign Christian Benteke from Liverpool in 2016, a deal that ended with the striker flopping, and led to a reduction in the fees paid by the Eagles. Now, though, with the club competing in Europe and looking to support manager Oliver Glasner in the market, they have sanctioned a major move. Bournemouth were also interested in signing the forward, while Aston Villa were also linked, but Palace have struck quickly and efficiently. 

Johnson will live long in the memory of all Spurs fans who watched the club end a 17-year trophy drought in Bilbao last season, as the Welshman tapped in their winning goal to secure Europa League glory. He became a key player under Ange Postecoglou, and has said that he "wouldn't change anything" from a season that also saw the club finish 17th.

He told The Athletic in August: “Last season was like a rollercoaster. There were so many different emotions. It taught me so much about football. Not just on the pitch but off it. How you spend your spare time and who you spend it with, how you get on with your team, speaking to people. It takes a while to find a balance.

“I wouldn’t have last season any different than it was. I learned and improved a lot. Won as a team, lost a lot of games as well. I don’t think this season will be like last season with the ups and downs. It was an important season for my development.”

On their celebrations, he added: “It’s an amazing memory. It opened my eyes to how big the club is. We experience the sold-out stadium every week, but then when you do these parades and you keep going further away, no one is going anywhere. You get more and more people. The energy was so high. It was a special day.”

Palace face Newcastle this weekend, with the club currently sitting 11th in the Premier League table, one point ahead of Spurs. Johnson will hope to formalise his future soon, as he bids to make a fresh start away from the club. 

He had talked about trying to grow as a player, and will hope to continue his development under Oliver Glasner.

He said: “On the ball, I want to be better in one-v-one dribbling situations. I look back at last season and I was always trying to improve on it, and I think I did towards the end. Directness. More of a forward-thinking mentality from me and scoring goals. I scored a lot off one touch. I’m trying to improve my left foot and (shooting) off the dribble. It’s about trying to get an overall better game.”