Why Chelsea FINALLY Turned A Corner.
Crystal Palace wanted to sign Brennan Johnson from Nottingham Forest if Michael Olise left for Chelsea.
That is according to The Athletic.
So, what was written about Crystal Palace and Brennan Johnson? Let’s take a look…
What’s the story?
Well, Steve Parish and Dougie Freedman clearly felt that there was a strong chance of Olise moving to Stamford Bridge, as a list of replacements was drawn up.
The Athletic believe Johnson was on that shortlist, although Nottingham Forest have been demanding £50m for their No.20 throughout the summer as many Premier League sides take an interest.
It is said that Crystal Palace would have struggled to afford that sum, even after selling Olise.
Brentford saw a £35m bid rejected for the Wales international earlier this summer, while Chelsea are also interested – according to the Daily Mail.
Johnson put his name up in lights throughout the 2022/23 campaign after helping Nottingham Forest achieve promotion to the Premier League in 2021/22.
The 22-year-old scored eight goals and provided three assists in 38 Premier League appearances as Steve Cooper’s side avoided an immediate return to the Championship.
Brennan Johnson would not have been the best Michael Olise replacement for Crystal Palace
In our view, hearing that Johnson was wanted to replace Olise seems a bit strange.
Firstly, the Welshman is a right-footed forward who has a different style of play to the left-footed France Under-21 international.
Johnson is more of a centre-forward as opposed to a natural wide man like Olise.
Furthermore – as aforesaid – Nottingham Forest want £50m for the attacker, so we hadn’t exactly identified a smart option financially, nor one we had an easy run at with Chelsea and Brentford involved.
Nevertheless, this is effectively irrelevant now – Olise ended up signing a new contract, and the Selhurst Park faithful can continue to enjoy his talents for at least another season.
