Crystal Palace and Everton Swap: McNeil for Johnson

Crystal Palace and Everton have agreed a straight swap that carries far more baggage than the usual deadline-day deal. Brennan Johnson will head to Goodison Park. Dwight McNeil will finally get his move to Selhurst Park. No fees, no add-ons. Just a clean trade between two clubs trying to reset their attacking options.

On paper, it is simple. In reality, this has been months in the making and laced with frustration.

McNeil, now into the final year of his Everton contract, thought he was joining Palace back in February. A £20m fee was agreed on deadline day, bags were mentally packed, and the winger was braced for a fresh start in south London. Then the dominoes started to fall the wrong way.

Jean-Philippe Mateta’s proposed £30m move to Milan collapsed when the France striker failed a medical. Palace reacted by trying to reshape the McNeil deal, switching from a permanent transfer to an initial loan with an obligation to buy. The paperwork even reached the Premier League in the form of a deal sheet. Then came the silence.

Palace pulled out. Communication dried up. The move died in the shadows of deadline day bureaucracy, and the fallout was raw. McNeil’s partner, Megan Sharpley, posted a searing message on Instagram accusing Palace of “messing with the winger’s mental health” after what she described as “radio silence” from the club.

“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 wider debate around how clubs treat players in high-stakes negotiations. Her words cut through the usual transfer noise, a reminder that behind the numbers and negotiation tactics are young players absorbing every twist.

Six months on, Palace have returned for McNeil. This time, they are giving up their record signing to get him.

Johnson arrived in January from Tottenham for £35m, a statement deal at the time and a marker of Palace’s ambition. That status lasted only a few weeks before Jørgen Strand Larsen arrived from Wolves for an initial £43m and took the “record signing” tag. Johnson never really got going.

Eighteen Premier League appearances. No goals. For a player on a contract believed to be worth more than £100,000 a week and running four and a half years, the numbers jarred with the investment and the expectation. The flashes of pace and movement were there, but the end product never followed. As the months passed, the signing began to look like an expensive misstep.

The pressure finally told. Palace, staring at a sizeable loss on the £35m they paid, have chosen to cut their losses in a way that at least clears a heavy earner from the wage bill and brings in a proven Premier League wide player in return.

Both McNeil and Johnson are understood to have agreed four-year contracts with an option for a further 12 months. Medicals are scheduled for Monday. If there are no late complications this time, McNeil will at last walk through the doors at Selhurst Park that he thought were opening to him in February, while Johnson gets a reset in a different environment and a manager who may tap into the potential Spurs once saw.

Palace are not stopping there. Their rebuild on the flanks and in the wide channels continues with a move for Anan Khalaili from Union Saint-Gilloise. The Israel right-back underwent a medical on Sunday and is expected to sign a five-year deal after Palace agreed a £21m fee.

Khalaili, 21, was on the brink of a move to Internazionale last month, only for that transfer to collapse when he failed a medical. Palace have decided the risk is worth taking. If he passes this time, they will add a young, attack-minded full-back to a squad already being reshaped in key areas.

So Palace trade one record signing for a winger they once left in limbo, and Everton gamble on unlocking a forward whose first big move stalled. Two clubs, two careers, and a straight swap that will be judged not on balance sheets, but on what happens from the first whistle of the new season.