Swap Deal Finally Lands

Everton and Crystal Palace have pulled the trigger. Dwight McNeil heads to Selhurst Park, and Brennan Johnson swaps in the opposite direction to Goodison Park. Medicals for both players got underway today, and the paperwork that once blocked this exact move now looks set to clear.

Rewind to January. Palace and Everton agreed a £20million fee for McNeil back then, add-ons included. He traveled south, passed his medical, and mentally packed his bags for Selhurst Park. Then, on deadline day, the legal checks dragged past the deadline. The move collapsed, publicly and painfully, and McNeil returned to Merseyside without a club to call his new home.

That failure forced Palace’s hand. They pivoted hard, spending roughly £35million on Johnson from Tottenham instead, a club-record fee at the time. Nine figures worth of pressure landed on a player who never quite settled into the role.

Now, months later, both clubs have found a tidier solution. Rather than starting fresh negotiations from scratch, they simply flipped the two wingers. Reports this week suggested Everton had to bridge the valuation gap with extra structuring, given how much more Palace paid for Johnson. Clearly, though, the two sides found common ground fast.

Fresh Starts For Both Wingers

McNeil never fully justified Everton’s faith after his £20million move from Burnley in 2022. He managed just 22 Premier League appearances last season, averaging barely 54 minutes a match. No goals. One assist. David Moyes had clearly begun looking elsewhere for width, and McNeil’s near-exit in January only confirmed where things were heading.

Johnson’s Palace spell told a similar story. Despite his hefty price tag, he made 26 appearances without finding real consistency, contributing only two goals and two assists across the campaign. A club-record signing rarely survives that kind of return without questions following him around.

Both players now get exactly what they needed: a reset, a new manager’s trust, and a squad built around different tactical demands.

What This Means For Both Clubs

Palace strengthen a squad preparing for Europa League football after their Conference League triumph. Meanwhile, Everton add proven Premier League quality up front as they push for a stronger finish than last season’s mid-table effort. Neither club overpays, since this trade balances itself out through the swap structure rather than fresh transfer fees.

Fans of both sides can track the confirmed fixture list as preseason winds down. For predictions on how both wingers might perform in their new colours, KCPredict’s transfer analysis hub breaks down the tactical fit for each move.