Brennan Johnson: What’s up with the Wales-Tottenham ‘mystery’?

While the specter of Bale was inevitable with Wales, Johnson had another impossible act to follow at Tottenham, joining in the same transfer window that saw Harry Kane depart for Bayern Munich.

“He’s come at a completely strange time for the club. I’m not sure they really have a good plan for how to replace Kane,” says Jack Pete Brook, who covers Tottenham for The Athletic.

“Johnson came in at a tough moment, but with injuries to other players, he ended up playing a lot that year and was actually pretty good.”

It helped that it was then-Spurs manager Ange Postecoglou who signed Johnson, who scored 23 goals in all competitions during his first two seasons.

“He fit what Ange wanted from the wings,” Pete Brook adds. “Really high and wide, scoring goals as the winger gets forward to one side, pulls the ball back across the box, and the other side’s winger puts it in. Johnson was good at delivering that cross, and also tapping it in at the far post.”

Under Postecoglou, Tottenham won the Europa League – with Johnson scoring the winner in the final against Manchester United – but the Australian was sacked this summer after the club finished 17th in the Premier League.

He was replaced by Thomas Frank – and the Dane Johnson was replaced by Kudus.

“Frank wants to play in a different way, he wants his wingers to do more with the ball rather than just score passes,” says Pete Brook.

“Tottenham paid £55m for Kudos, who doesn’t score many goals, but everything until he reaches the opposition goal is much better than Johnson.

“At the moment, I don’t think any Spurs fans would include Johnson in their favorite team. It’s not really clear where he fits in.”

Johnson has managed to score four goals in 17 appearances in all competitions this season, but according to many supporters and pundits, he is not offering much.

“He doesn’t do much other than score goals,” Pete Brook says. “Obviously there are worse things than a guy known for scoring goals, but I think people might have expected him to do more.

“It’s kind of a mystery.”