Everton and Crystal Palace Complete Swap Deal: McNeil for Johnson

Everton and Crystal Palace have shaken hands on one of the more intriguing deals of the summer: a straight swap of Dwight McNeil and Brennan Johnson, with both players now heading for medicals and four-year contracts that carry an option for a further 12 months.

No add-ons circus. No drawn-out auction. Just two clubs trading problems and potential in equal measure.

A move Palace almost made – six months late

For Palace, McNeil is the signing that got away in January. They were on the brink then, only for the move to collapse on deadline day when the paperwork didn’t land in time. The interest never really cooled.

Now, with less drama and a lot more clarity, they finally get their man.

At 26, McNeil has already ridden a few waves at Everton. There were stretches when he looked indispensable, the kind of wide player who can drag a team up the pitch and carry a game on his left foot. But under David Moyes his influence has faded, his minutes and importance reduced as the manager reshaped the side.

With only a year left on his contract, Everton knew the risk. Keep him and face losing him for nothing next summer, or move him now and reset. They’ve chosen the latter.

Palace, meanwhile, pick up a player they know, one they’ve scouted extensively, and one who fits the profile they’ve chased for months. This time, the paperwork will be on time.

Johnson’s Palace struggle and Everton’s long courtship

On the other side of the deal stands Brennan Johnson, a forward whose spell at Selhurst Park simply never caught fire.

Signed only last January for £35 million, the Wales international arrived with a reputation as a direct, goal-threatening attacker, forged at Tottenham and Nottingham Forest. The numbers backed it up: 27 goals in 107 games for Spurs, and a track record of hurting defences with his movement and pace.

Palace never saw that version.

Across 26 appearances in all competitions last season, Johnson failed to score a single goal. The confidence dipped, the rhythm never came, and the signing that was supposed to sharpen Palace’s attack instead became an expensive headache.

Everton have watched all of this from a distance. They’ve had Johnson on their radar for years, their interest surviving changes in recruitment staff and managerial shifts. Now, with Palace ready to cut their losses in a different way, Everton finally step in.

The agreement between the clubs is done. Both players have been cleared to undergo medicals today, and once those are completed, each is expected to sign a four-year deal, with an option for an extra year built in.

Wages, risk and the logic on both sides

Strip it back, and the logic is clear.

For Everton, allowing McNeil to run down his deal would have been poor business. Instead, they turn a soon-to-be expiring asset into a 25-year-old forward whose ceiling they still believe in.

There is, of course, the wage question. Johnson earns £130,000 per week at Palace, a figure that has weighed heavily on their books while his form has sagged. His departure clears a huge chunk of salary and gives Palace room to breathe financially and reshape their squad.

If Everton match those wages – which has not yet been confirmed – Johnson will walk into Hill Dickinson Stadium as one of the club’s highest earners. That is a statement and a gamble rolled into one.

Everton are prepared to take that bet. They are banking on Moyes, on structure, and on the memory of the player who once scored 18 goals in all competitions in the 2024/25 season for Spurs. That version of Johnson would transform their attack.

For Palace, the equation is different but just as rational. They move on a player who has struggled, free up a significant salary, and land McNeil without the uncertainty of trying to drum up a traditional market for Johnson. They get a wide player they nearly signed already, one who arrives with a point to prove after slipping down the pecking order on Merseyside.

A fresh start for two stalled careers

This is a swap deal rooted in timing and need.

Johnson wants a new challenge. McNeil needs a platform where his role is defined and trusted again. Both clubs require change in the final third, but neither wanted to wade through a messy, drawn-out sales process.

So they’ve traded instead.

If Moyes can coax the Spurs and Forest version of Johnson back into life, Everton will feel they have stolen a march on their rivals, even with the wage bill swelling. Should McNeil rediscover his best form at Selhurst Park, Palace will look back at this as the moment they turned a misfiring, high-earning signing into a reliable Premier League contributor.

Two careers at a crossroads. Two clubs trying to reset their attacks.

Soon enough, we’ll find out which side of this swap did the smarter business.