New Tottenham Hotspur boss Thomas Frank is a huge fan of Brennan Johnson
Thomas Frank arrived at Tottenham Hotspur in June and so far has been able to add Kota Takai, Mohammed Kudus and Joao Palhinha to his ranks.
The new Spurs boss was close to landing Morgan Gibbs-White, only for Nottingham Forest to block the move due to legal reasons. Eventually, the deal collapsed and Nottingham Forest convinced Gibbs-White to sign a new deal.
It was a blow for new boss Thomas Frank to his hopes of rebuilding the squad that finished just above the three relegated teams last season. The Dane built a strong reputation as an astute, flexible tactician during his seven-year spell at Brentford, and Daniel Levy has brought him across the capital to help achieve some sort of stability.
Despite some fresh faces being added to the squad, as well as mostly young talents returning to the club from loan spells, Frank will still mostly be working with the players who were already at Tottenham. Of course, Brennan Johnson is one of those.
Thomas Frank likes Brennan Johnson
Brennan Johnson was one of the signings made by Spurs during the Ange Postecoglou era. He left his boyhood club Nottingham Forest to join the north Londoners in the summer of 2023.
After a decent debut season, the Wales international took to his game to another level last term when he became Tottenham’s highest goalscorer with 18 strikes in all competitions. It was his ability to sniff out goals and time his runs to perfection in the box that turned out to be one of the reasons for the 24-year-old to score so many goals, including the winner in the Europa League final against Manchester United.
Johnson has been impressed by summer signing Kudus, but when it comes to getting the best out of the squad that Frank inherited from Ange, TBR Football chief correspondent Graeme Bailey has revealed that the Danish boss already “really likes” the club’s top scorer from 2024/25 season.
“I actually thought Richarlison would be one of them, it’ll be interesting to see how that plays out, because there are a few Spurs players worth watching here,” Graeme Bailey exclusively told TBR Football when asked about Frank’s early favourites.
“Kulusevski, for example, we’ll have to see how he fits in…and then there’s Maddison.
“I’d heard that Maddison was kind of on the fringes even before Frank arrived at Spurs.
“I’ve also heard that Frank really likes both Johnson and Sarr, he’s been impressed by them. But to be fair, when he first came in, he already liked a lot of the squad.
“That was actually part of the reason he got the job – in his conversations with Daniel Levy, he went through the whole squad and wasn’t negative about anyone.
“He showed he had a strong understanding of the group and was genuinely positive about what was already there.”
Brennan Johnson must bring consistency to his game
Johnson demonstrated his ability to score all kinds of goals, but he largely received criticism from the fans for his lack of consistency and inability to dribble past players. Additionally, the Welshman’s anonymity for extended periods of a game was frustrating for supporters, who clearly felt he was not offering much from the right.
The Hotspur Way chiefs apparently saw it as an issue as well and decided to sign Kudus from West Ham in July. The Ghana international is a more rounded footballer than Johnson and gave glimpses of what he can bring to Frank’s team during the pre-season games thus far. That said, it will be interesting to see how Frank fits Kudus and Johnson in the same side.