Everton and Crystal Palace complete McNeil-Johnson swap
Everton and Crystal Palace completed a swap deal between the Premier League clubs on 11 August 2026, exchanging Dwight McNeil and Brennan Johnson.
Everton confirmed 25-year-old Johnson has signed a four-year contract while McNeil, 26, has agreed a deal running until 2030. McNeil originally signed for Everton from Burnley for £20m in July 2022 and had been the subject of a near-move to Palace in February under a loan-to-buy arrangement that would have become a £20m permanent transfer this summer.
That February transfer collapsed despite McNeil having passed a medical because the required paperwork could not be completed in time, and his partner Megan Sharpley subsequently accused the Eagles of toying with his mental health via a social media post. McNeil has scored 15 goals and provided 19 assists in 128 games in all competitions for Everton.
Brennan Johnson joined Tottenham Hotspur from Nottingham Forest for a fee in excess of £45m in 2023 and scored their winning goal in the Europa League final last May. The 25-year-old signed for Palace in a £35m deal in January and made 26 appearances in all competitions for Selhurst Park but failed to score during his time there; he also has 45 caps for Wales.
Johnson, speaking to Everton's TV channel, said he "immediately wanted to come and be part" of the club when told of the Toffees' interest. "There were a lot of reasons why I was so keen to join - the manager, the players, the direction the team is going in," he added. "You can see this is a club that wants to go in the right direction, and I'm a player who wants to go in that direction too, so it feels like a really good match."
Everton finished 13th in the Premier League last season following a disappointing run of results at the end of the campaign. Johnson said the club will do "everything to get back into European competition", adding that "Everton has the ambition to win trophies - and I believe we can do it."
Palace chairman Steve Parish described McNeil as "a player with proven ability in the Premier League". McNeil said: "The lads have had some great success over the last two seasons. It's something that I want to be a part of, so I'm really looking forward to getting started," and referenced Palace's recent success in the FA Cup, Community Shield and Europa Conference League in the last two seasons.
Everton and Palace meet at Hill Dickinson Stadium on 22 August in the opening weekend of the Premier League campaign.
