How Everton could immediately sign an upgrade on Brennan Johnson

Everton still haven’t signed a right-back, and the 2026/27 Premier League season is now fewer than two weeks away.

It looks like Jake O’Brien will deputise in the role, moonlighting as a right-back as he has done for the past year-and-a-half under David Moyes‘ wing at Everton.

A deal for Celtic’s Alastair Johnston remains in the works, though there is little sign that Toffees director Angus Kinnear is on the verge of a breakthrough in negotiations with the Scottish Premiership champions.

However, Everton have wrapped up a shrewd move for Wales winger Brennan Johnson, with Dwight McNeil heading to Crystal Palace in a rare player-for-player swap.

Why Everton have swapped McNeil for Johnson

This is not the NBA. Straight swaps are few and far between in modern football, but Everton and Palace will both be happy with their smart business here.

McNeil had fallen by the wayside under Moyes’ management, and Johnson has struggled to establish himself at Selhurst Park in 2026 after a difficult decline at Tottenham Hotspur.

It is only one year since Johnson scored the winning goal in the Europa League final, ending an interminable search for silverware at Spurs. Manchester United were bested, and it consolidated the Welshman’s position under Ange Postecoglou, wrapping up his 18-goal campaign.

A versatile and dynamic attacker, Johnson is fast and incisive in front of goal. We’re not saying he’s without his flaws, and this is indeed a gamble, but McNeil has been a non-starter at Everton of late, and there is potential in striking a deal for Johnson, who can offer the semblance of a goal threat that Iliman Ndiaye may well take with him on a one-way trip to the Saudi Pro League.

Johnson sometimes gets a bad rep. For sure, his overall play over the past couple of years with Tottenham and then Palace has left a lot to be desired, though his killer instinct in front of goal cannot be disputed.

McNeil had lost his way on Merseyside, so it’s understandable that he has been moved on. However, Johnson has got a lot of work to do before he returns to the kind of form that saw Spurs pay £47.5m in 2023, bringing him from Nottingham Forest to London.

Everton working on better signing than Johnson

Johnson, 25, is shot for confidence, and while Everton offers him a compelling lifeline, it’s important that Moyes does not overburden him from the get-go. Another pragmatic wide addition could go a long way.

As per Football Insider, Everton are growing confident that they can strike a deal to sign Jacob Murphy from Newcastle United before the end of the transfer window.

Murphy, 31, would prefer to stay at St. James’ Park and see out the remainder of his contract, but new Magpies boss Matthias Jaissle will have the final call on that one, and Everton will hope to pull a smart piece of business off, having been linked with Murphy since the end of the 2025/26 season.

Murphy might not be the flashiest winger in the league, but he has been a mainstay for Newcastle over the past several years, one of Eddie Howe’s most trusted lieutenants.

He might not be flashy, but he can comfortably say he’s been riding a bigger wave than Johnson of late. Murphy is a selfless and intelligent winger who would help Everton in creating progressions from the right channel and into the box.

In fact, he probably didn’t play all that well last term, still outperforming Johnson, but produced an iconic campaign in 2024/25 as Newcastle qualified for the Champions League, posting eight goals and 12 assists in the league. He created 16 big chances and threaded sequences together.

Described by journalist Scott Wilson as the “unsung hero” of the Howe era at Newcastle, Murphy still has some mileage in the tank, and he could be a shrewd, Moyes-esque signing to help drive Everton forward, providing creativity and fluency on the ball that Johnson may struggle to whip up himself.

Murphy might not be the show-stopping transfer target that Everton fans might be hoping to see emerge, but he would be a clever signing, invariably creative, a set-piece specialist and an impressive contributor in the build-up.

He might not be the sharpest goalscorer, but in that, Murphy would be Johnson’s perfect foil, perhaps with a more tangible chance of actually making a difference for this outfit.