Tottenham Hotspur suffer major transfer blow in the pursuit of Nottingham Forest star Brennan Johnson
According to NottinghamshireLive, Tottenham Hotspur have been handed a damning transfer blow in their pursuit of Nottingham Forest youngster Brennan Johnson. He is one of the brightest prospects playing in the Championship this season.
Johnson will enter the final year of his contract at the end of the current campaign. Supposedly, an offer worth £20 million will be enough for interested parties to secure his services ahead of the January transfer window.
However, the 20-year-old’s father, David Johnson, and coach, Steve Cooper, has shut down interest from the Premier League. Cooper was quick to react to the question enquiring about the possibility of a transfer away from the City ground.
“Of course we want to keep him. I don’t want to lose anybody in January that I want to stay. I haven’t even thought about him leaving. I’ve just thought about how he gets better, how we support him, how we push him, how we challenge him and how we get him to strive to do even better than what he’s doing, because now is not the time for him to stand still – it’s the time for him to kick on even more.”
The Forest boss also added that an enquiry for the player will not even be entertained as they are not interested in any move. The Welshman’s father tweeted on his social media: “He’s NOT FOR SALE.’, evidently leaving no room for doubt in his message.
Missed chance?
Missing out on a potential superstar in the making is always a tough blow, but it is not the end of the road. We have talented youngsters in our academy who are close to making the jump to the senior level. Dilan Markanday plays in a similar position to Johnson and can be considered a viable alternative.
Markanday does not have senior-level experience, but, you would not bet against him to succeed at the top considering how he has been teaing it up with the U23 teams. Even if a transfer for Johnson was possible, Spurs have every reason to play it safe given their experience with Jack Clarke.
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At the same time, one would expect the Forest midfielder to progress to the first division where he can further hone his gameplay. We could have used a youngster with senior-level experience who could inject some drive and enthusiasm into the team. Time will tell whether we will have another opportunity to land Johnson or not.