Brennan Johnson is available to play for Crystal Palace against Newcastle United on Sunday after completing his £35million transfer from Tottenham.
To be eligible to face Newcastle, Johnson had to be registered in Palace’s squad by 12pm on Friday, with the player officially unveiled as an Eagle that afternoon.
However, the club have confirmed that the move was finalised before the deadline and the Wales winger can make his debut for his new club at St. James’ Park.
‘I’m really excited and I’m really happy. Crystal Palace are such a great club, one that I’ve always admired,’ Johnson said upon moving to Selhurst Park.
‘It’s a great time for me to be here and join the journey that this club is on – I’m super excited.’
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His fee represents a new club-record for the Eagles, surpassing the £27m they paid Liverpool for Christian Benteke a decade ago.
Few could have imagined this transfer occurring just a few months ago, with Johnson finishing last season at Tottenham’s top scorer with 18 goals, including the winner in the Europa League final against Manchester United.
A £47.5m Ange Postecoglou signing, the 24-year-old scored in Thomas Frank’s first two league games in charge of Spurs but quickly fell out of favour, even with the team struggling to find the back of the net.
Several other Premier League sides were interested in signing Johnson in the January transfer window, most notably Bournemouth who need to replace Manchester City-bound Antoine Semenyo.
But it was Palace who quickly agreed a deal with Spurs, before manager Oliver Glasner convinced the forward to swap north for south London during talks on New Year’s Day.
‘I’m really delighted that Brennan has joined the club. He arrives very early in the window, so credit to the club for making this happen so quickly,’ the Palace manager said.
‘Brennan will give us options in our attacking play with his pace and goalscoring ability and with all the upcoming games he will be a valuable addition to the squad.’
Glasner has been desperately calling for reinforcements, with Palace win-less in seven games and missing key players through injury and the Africa Cup of Nations.
Two of those are right-winger Ismaila Sarr and right-wingback Daniel Munoz, positions Johnson will be expected to play in.
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