Tottenham are in talks with Nottingham Forest over a move for Brennan Johnson; Forest do not want to sell the 22-year-old and are likely to only consider offers in the region of £50m; Brentford remain interested in the Wales international but Chelsea have cooled their interest
Monday 28 August 2023 16:43, UK
Tottenham are in talks with Nottingham Forest over a deal for Brennan Johnson, but a formal bid is yet to be submitted by Spurs for the forward.
Forest do not want to sell Johnson, who only signed a four-year deal with the club last summer, and are likely to only consider offers in the region of £50m.
Forest have rejected multiple bids from Brentford for Johnson throughout the summer transfer window.
Brentford remain very keen on the Wales international, but Chelsea have cooled their interest in him.
Spurs have three forward targets before Friday's deadline and several sources have told Sky Sports News Barcelona's Ansu Fati and PSV Eindhoven's Johan Bakayoko could be the other options, but they are unconfirmed.
Spurs want a player of Johnson's profile rather than a traditional centre-forward after the departure of Harry Kane to Bayern Munich.
Johnson was a standout performer for Forest last season as he scored eight goals and provided three assists to help the club avoid relegation from the Premier League.
The 22-year-old has started in all three of Forest's games so far this season but is yet to score.
Tottenham have made eight signings this summer at a total cost of £167.8m, with Micky van de Ven the most expensive recruit so far at £43m.
Sky Sports football journalist Joe Shread:
Johnson is far from a like-for-like replacement for Kane - but that is fine by Tottenham.
After letting their record goalscorer leave for Bayern earlier this summer, Spurs are understandably keen to strengthen their forward line.
But the north London club are not seeking to replace the most prolific No 9 in their history with a player of a similar profile.
Instead, Spurs want a versatile forward that can play multiple roles in Ange Postecoglou's front three - and Johnson fits the bill.
The Welshman lined up on the wing, behind the striker and as the central forward at various points last season as Forest boss Steve Cooper regularly tweaked his system.
Johnson consistently performed - regardless of his role - racking up impressive statistics across a variety of attacking metrics compared to his team-mates, as the graphic below shows.
If Johnson does swap the East Midlands for Spurs, he will be able to compete with Dejan Kulusevski on the right wing, Heung-Min Son on the left wing and Richarlison through the middle.
As just 22 and with just one top-flight season under his belt, the 19-cap international should have plenty of room for improvement as part of Postecoglou's promising new era.
Spurs want to slim down their squad with several outgoings this coming week - but those exits could also see a new centre-back and central midfielder arrive.
Three central defenders - Eric Dier, Davinson Sanchez and Japhet Tanganga - are all available, and one of them leaving would see Spurs look to move on to a target of their own.
Forest could target Sanchez in the final week of the window, but they also have other centre-back options.
In midfield, Tanguy Ndombele is expected to depart, but if Pierre Emile-Hojbjerg also follows him out of the club then another central midfielder can be brought in.
Also on the transfer list in the final week of the window are Sergio Reguilon, who is of interest to Manchester United and Fulham, goalkeeper Hugo Lloris and right-back Djed Spence.
Spence is expected to go on loan as Spurs look to see how he develops, while winger Bryan Gil and striker Dane Scarlett may also leave on loan for regular first-team games.
Spurs must submit a list of 25 players to the Premier League on September 13 for the first half of the season and everything points towards Ndombele being elsewhere by that point.
Asked specifically about Ndombele, Postecoglou admitted: "Tanguy is in a boat with a few other guys. I said the other day that we've got five or six players more than we can name on a list.
"We've got five or six players more than we can name on a list so all these things come down to decisions that people make, whether it's an individual player or myself, and we've got four or five who are in that boat.
"I'm sure this week those kind of things will play themselves out.
"He's [Ndombele] still training. He's working hard at training but that midfield area we're going really well at the moment.
"You saw the guys that started today [in the win at Bournemouth], Skippy's been really good, Pierre (Emile Hojbjerg) and Gio (Lo Celso) have been training well so it's pretty competitive in that area.
"I think this week a lot of those things I expect to get resolved."
Who will be on the move in the final days of the transfer window before it closes at 11pm on September 1 in England and midnight in Scotland?
Keep up to date with all the latest transfer news and rumours in our dedicated Transfer Centre blog on Sky Sports' digital platforms. You can also catch up with the ins, outs and analysis on Sky Sports News.
