This summer was a significant one for Tottenham. After a long period of failing to find the right manager to steer the club forward, they brought in Ange Postecoglou from Celtic – but they lost talismanic striker and club captain Harry Kane.
In a bid to replace the goals that Kane brought to the team, Spurs decided to splash the cash on Nottingham Forest player Brennan Johnson. The young attacker has enjoyed just one season in the Premier League but that didn’t stop Spurs spending £47.5m.
In this guide, we take an in-depth look at the Wales international — what he could bring to the Spurs team and whether he can replace Harry Kane.
About Brennan Johnson
22-year-old Brennan Johnson rose up through the academy at Nottingham Forest and broke into the first team scene in 2019. He made his debut at 18 and enjoyed a fruitful spell on loan at Lincoln City, where he scored 10 goals in 40 league games. He also scored an 11-minute hat-trick against Milton Keynes Dons in April 2021.
Johnson has also performed well on the international stage for his country, Wales. He’s had a total of 22 caps, scoring two goals — one of which was against Belgium in a 1-1 draw in the UEFA Nations League. The other came in a loss to the Netherlands in the same competition.
Johnson’s form at Nottingham Forest
When Johnson returned to Nottingham Forest after his spell at Lincoln City, he immediately made it into the team under manager Steve Cooper. He won the EFL Young Player of the Month award in September 2021 and again in April 2022, and won the Championship Young Player of the Season award after scoring 19 goals. Those goals helped Forest secure promotion to the Premier League for the first time in decades.
Johnson continued his fine form once he moved up into the Premier League. In his first season in the top flight, he scored 10 goals in 44 games in all competitions, an impressive feat for a young player who has bags of potential.
Can Johnson replace Harry Kane?
The main reason Spurs brought in Johnson was to bolster their attacking ranks in a bid to secure that all-important top 4 finish. Most sportsbooks and bookmakers would have dropped Tottenham’s predicted finish down a few places after seeing them lose Kane, but after signing a player of Johnson’s calibre, their odds may well have increased.
But Harry Kane was a tremendous supplier of goals, a record-breaking player who almost sits in a class of his own. He scored an incredible 213 goals in just 317 league games, as well as 59 goals in 86 games for England.
Last season, Kane scored 32 goals in all competitions. The season before that, he scored 27, and the one before that, he bagged 33. Those are huge and consistent numbers, something that’s immensely difficult to duplicate.
And to make matters worse, Kane was the club captain, a boyhood fan who always gave his all on the pitch. Tottenham fans may well feel less of a connection with the team now he’s gone.
Brennan Johnson has huge shoes to fill. For some players, that pressure might get too much. But the youngster has so far shown he can handle it, stepping up to the rigorous challenges of the Premier League with aplomb — and on the international stage too.
With guidance, support, and a bit of time, Johnson may well be able to make his own mark in Tottenham’s history books.
How Tottenham will look with Johnson in the team
One of the main reasons Tottenham signed Johnson was because new manager Ange Postecoglou felt he would fit in well with the system that they play. Postecoglou is a manager who loves to exploit the space behind defences, and in Johnson, he’s found his perfect player.
In a recent interview with Sky Sports, the Spurs manager explained that Johnson is “devastating running in behind”. One-on-one, he can overtake players at will, and even with the ball, he can explode with lightning-quick acceleration.
Johnson is very much a winger, not so much a striker. His main strength lies in beating defenders on the outside of the wing, hugging the touchline like the wingers of old. This clever positioning has the ability to stretch the pitch to free space for other players. But Johnson knows where the goal is, and skilfully drifts into central positions too.
