Brennan Johnson Europa League final
Brennan Johnson Europa League final
It is fair to say that recent seasons have not gone the way that Tottenham Hotspur have wanted, as they have competed near the relegation zone in the Premier League.
Winning the Europa League under Ange Postecoglou at the end of the 2024/25 campaign was a big moment, but it has been largely downhill since then.
ange-postecoglou-tottenham-premier-league
Spurs sacked the Australian boss and finished in 17th place and two points above the relegation zone in the Premier League last season, barely avoiding the drop.
A player whose journey in North London mirrored the club's ups and downs in recent years was Wales international Brennan Johnson, who scored the winner in that European final.
How Brennan Johnson's Spurs career unfolded
Back in the summer of 2023, Spurs swooped to sign the forward from Premier League rivals Nottingham Forest for a fee in excess of £45m to bolster their options in the final third.
Tottenham winger Brennan Johnson
Tottenham winger Brennan Johnson
The Welshman enjoyed a fairly strong first year with the Lilywhites in the top-flight, as he racked up five goals and 11 assists in 32 appearances in the division.
His best spell, by far, came in the 2024/25 campaign. Johnson scored 18 goals, including the winner in the Europa League final, and provided seven assists in 51 matches for Tottenham.
Eight months after that winning goal against Manchester United to end the club's 17-year wait for a major trophy, the 25-year-old attacker was sold to Crystal Palace for a fee of £35m.
Why Spurs cashed in on Brennan Johnson
The Lilywhites cashed in on the former Nottingham Forest man because his form in the first half of the 2025/26 campaign made his 18-goal burst in the previous season look like a flash in the pan.
Tottenham winger Brennan Johnson
Tottenham winger Brennan Johnson
Johnson scored two goals and did not provide any assists in 16 appearances in the Premier League before being sold to Palace in the January transfer window.
That meant that he only scored seven goals in 51 league games for Spurs either side of the 2025/26 campaign, despite racking up 10.61 xG in his first season alone, which is why they decided to move on from him.
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Johnson (Premier League) 25/26 26/27
Appearances 34 10
xG 2.43 1.08
Goals 2 0
Big chances missed 2 2
Key passes per game 0.6 0.6
xA 1.31 0.40
Assists 1 0
His return of two goals and one assist in 44 league games since the start of last season and the fact that Palace sent him to Everton in a swap deal for Dwight McNeil in the summer suggests that Spurs made the right call when they opted to sell him.
Spurs can cash in on their new Brennan Johnson
Tottenham can now cash in on their new version of Johnson, as there is another player in the first-team squad who has failed to reach the heights that they previously hit in North London.
Pedro Porro's Spurs form has declined in recent seasons and the Spain international is said to be hopeful of securing a move away from the club in 2027.
Manchester City, Liverpool, and Chelsea have held talks with the player's representatives, but it would take a fee of £60m for Roberto De Zerbi's side to cash in on him.
Tottenham's Pedro Porro
Tottenham's Pedro Porro
With this in mind, Spurs should put the right-back up for sale after just ten Premier League games this season, because he does not look as impactful as he once was.
Tottenham signed Porro from Sporting for £40m in the summer of 2023, after spending the previous six months on loan in North London, and he enjoyed an impressive first two-and-a-half years at the club, delivering goals and assists on a regular basis.
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|Pedro Porro's Premier League career|
|Season|Appearances|Goals + assists|
|---|
|26/27|6|0 + 0|
|25/26|34|1 + 2|
|24/25|33|2 + 6|
|23/24|35|3 + 7|
|22/23|15|3 + 3|
After recording eight goals and 16 assists in his first 83 league matches for Spurs, the Spaniard has only scored one goal and supplied two assists in his last 40 games for the Lilywhites.
Porro has gone from being one of the most exciting attacking full-backs in the Premier League to being an underperforming defender who rarely contributes at the top end of the pitch.
On top of rarely providing goals and assists, the £60m-rated defender lost possession 19 times per game in the league in the 2025/26 campaign, more than he has in any other season in the division.
Porro has followed in Johnson's footsteps, therefore, because he has become a liability on the pitch for Tottenham after previously being a key performer and regular contributor in the final third.
Tottenham's Pedro Porro
Tottenham's Pedro Porro
It seems like the right time for the Lilywhites to wave goodbye to him, given the interest from other Premier League teams, and that is why they should cash in on him, as they did with Johnson.