As a Crystal Palace fan, this one feels less like a shiny deadline day rumour and more like a move that actually fits what we are living through right now.
And it is not just one outlet pushing it. Multiple credible sources have reported that Palace have agreed a club record fee of around £35m with Tottenham for Brennan Johnson, even if the player is still weighing up his next step.
The AFCON timing is the real story
AFCON 2025 is of course running over Christmas and New Year, from Sunday 21 December 2025 to Sunday 18 January 2026.
The biggest issue for Palace right now is that Ismaïla Sarr is away with Senegal at the tournament, and it’s not like our depth wasn’t already in question.
So this is not a theoretical “depth” problem. It is a very real “who plays wide with pace, starts games, and still gives us an outlet when legs are gone” problem, and Brennan might (emphasis on might) be the short to long term answer.
What Palace actually lose without Sarr
When Sarr is missing, it is not just a couple of dribbles or a goal threat that we’re really missing, that first run in behind on the transition that forces a defence to turn and sprint, which Pino doesn’t give us, is a major loss right now.
With AFCON landing right in the middle of the festive pile up, those are the minutes you cannot just patch with a youngster or a “nice option” on the bench.
Why Brennan Johnson fits the gap
Johnson is the sort of forward who can play serious minutes straight away, and that matters in January. The reporting around Palace’s interest has specifically linked the move to the demands of the schedule, European football, and Sarr being away at AFCON.
If you are trying to keep standards up across Saturday and midweek, you need someone who can start, not just cameo, and with Nketiah now injured we really need something, anything.
And while Spurs paid big money for him, several reports say he has struggled for consistent starts this season, which is often how these January opportunities appear for clubs like us.
Why it makes sense for Palace right now
We are also not operating in a single competition bubble. Palace are in the UEFA Conference League this season, which changes what “rotation” even means.
Thursday to Sunday stretches punish squads that cannot maintain intensity, especially out wide where the running is relentless.
The logic in one quick table
| Palace problem | Why Johnson helps |
|---|---|
| Sarr away at AFCON | Plug the wide minutes immediately |
| Festive congestion plus Europe | Start level quality without a drop off |
| Losing our transition outlet | Keeps teams honest with runs in behind |
If this deal completes, I will not see it as a vanity signing. I will see it as Palace protecting our season during AFCON, keeping us dangerous in transition, and giving us a fighting chance of sustaining form across league and Europe.
What these stats say about why he could work at Palace
| Season | Club | Apps | Minutes | Goals | Assists | G+A per 90 | Mins per G+A |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | Nottingham Forest | 38 | 2,941 | 8 | 3 | 0.34 | 267 |
| 2023/24 | Tottenham | 35 | 2,333 | 5 | 11 | 0.62 | 146 |
| 2024/25 | Tottenham | 33 | 2,179 | 11 | 5 | 0.66 | 136 |
| 2025/26 (to 31 Dec 2025) | Tottenham | 15 | 601 | 2 | 2 | 0.60 | 150 |
- He is not just a “finisher winger”. That 2023/24 league line of 11 assists is exactly the sort of end product Palace often miss when teams sit deep and the game gets scrappy.
- He can carry goal threat as well. In 2024/25 he hit 11 league goals (and 18 across all competitions), which is proper forward output, not a streaky purple patch.
- Even with reduced minutes in 2025/26, his per-90 involvement stays strong. That matters if he starts as a rotation option and grows into the role.
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