Crystal Palace and Everton Swap Johnson for McNeil
Crystal Palace and Everton have agreed a straight swap of Brennan Johnson and Dwight McNeil, drawing a dramatic line under a transfer saga that boiled over just six months ago.
Back then, McNeil’s partner accused Palace of “messing with the winger’s mental health” after a deadline-day move collapsed without explanation. Now, the same club is set to be his next home.
A swap with history attached
Both players have agreed four-year contracts with an option for a further 12 months and are due to undergo medicals on Monday. No fees, no add-ons: a clean exchange of two careers in need of a reset.
For Palace, this is an abrupt change of course on Johnson. He arrived in January from Tottenham as the club’s record signing at £35m, a statement buy that was quickly overshadowed when Jørgen Strand Larsen joined from Wolves for an initial £43m weeks later. Johnson brought pace and promise, but not the end product. Eighteen Premier League appearances, no goals. For a player on a contract believed to be worth more than £100,000 a week, the numbers never matched the investment.
The swap will not erase the financial hit. Palace accept that. What it does do is clear one of their highest earners from the wage bill and bring in a proven Premier League wide player in McNeil, who enters the final year of his Everton deal.
From radio silence to Selhurst Park
This is not just another transfer for McNeil. In February, he was on the brink of joining Palace after a £20m fee was agreed on deadline day. Bags half-packed, future mapped out, the move looked done.
Then the dominoes fell the wrong way.
Jean-Philippe Mateta’s proposed £30m move to Milan collapsed when the France striker failed a medical. Palace reacted by reshaping the McNeil deal into an initial loan with an obligation to buy at the end of the season. A deal sheet went into the Premier League. Then nothing. Palace walked away.
The silence around that decision left a mark. McNeil’s partner, Megan Sharpley, posted an emotional message on Instagram, accusing the club of leaving the winger in limbo.
“Tonight, and the last 48 hours, have broken my heart to see how the football world you love so much can be so cruel to you,” she wrote, highlighting the strain on his mental health and questioning how such treatment could be brushed off simply because players earn substantial wages.
Those words hung over Palace. They now welcome the same player they once left waiting for a phone call.
Everton reset, Palace reshape
For Everton, this is a pragmatic move. McNeil, out of contract next year, is converted into a younger forward with resale value and a point to prove. Johnson’s time at Palace has been underwhelming, but his raw attributes remain obvious. A change of environment and a new role under different coaching could yet unlock the player Tottenham were happy to cash in on but Palace were once willing to build around.
For Palace, the decision is harsher, more clinical. Johnson was a marquee arrival, sold as part of a new attacking era. Six months on, they are cutting their losses. The pressure that comes with a big fee and a hefty wage packet has been lifted from him, and shifted onto McNeil, who now walks into a club that once left him hanging on deadline day.
Khalaili deal close
Palace’s rebuild does not stop with the swap.
They are also set to finalise the signing of Anan Khalaili from Union Saint-Gilloise for £21m. The Israel right-back completed his medical on Sunday and is expected to sign a five-year contract in south London.
Khalaili, 21, saw a move to Internazionale fall through last month after he failed a medical, but Palace have pushed ahead, backing their own assessments and adding another significant piece to a squad being aggressively reshaped.
Johnson out, McNeil in. Khalaili on the way. Palace are not just tweaking at the edges of their squad. They are tearing up plans drawn only months ago and daring to start again.
