Tottenham benefit as Nottingham Forest left ‘baffled’ after £47.5million Brennan Johnson update
Daniel Levy pulled off something of a masterstroke at Tottenham when it came to the signing of Brennan Johnson from Nottingham Forest last summer.
Spurs paid Premier League strugglers Nottingham Forest £47.5million for Johnson’s signature on deadline day last summer (Sky Sports News, 2 September).
Johnson was one of the club’s most important players, striking 10 times in the Premier League last season to help Forest avoid the drop, and some might have been surprised that the Reds chose to sell their star player and academy graduate at the last minute.
However, recent developments indicate that they had little choice but to let go of the Welshman.
As per the Premier League’s Official Website (18 March), Forest have been hit with a four-point deduction as a result of a breach of the Premier League’s Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSRs) for the period ending Season 2022/23.
It is clear that the sale of Johnson was part of a desperate attempt to balance the books at the City Ground, and Levy was on hand to help the club do that, much to the benefit of Tottenham as they snapped up an exciting young talent.
However, it appears that the sale of Johnson has done very little to help Forest avoid punishment.
As per The Daily Mail (page 71, 22 March), if Forest are to appeal their four-point deduction, it is likely to be based on the independent commission’s dismissal of their evidence regarding the £47.5million sale of Johnson.
Forest’s lawyers believe this dismissal implies that the club would have been punished, regardless of whether or not Johnson was sold to Tottenham, with the commission concluding that the transfer was “insignificant.”
This has left the Reds “baffled”, with the club of the belief that the sale of Johnson has hurt their chances of survival in England’s top flight, and demonstrated their desire to comply with PSR.
Tottenham and Daniel Levy emerge as winners in Brennan Johnson and Nottingham Forest transfer saga
Johnson hasn’t exactly set the league alight with his performances at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium this season, but his four goals and six assists under Ange Postecoglou demonstrate a player with room to grow.
However at Forest, he was already the main man, and if he was still playing his football in the Midlands, his boyhood club would likely find themselves a lot higher up the league table, and the four-point deduction wouldn’t have been so detrimental to them.
This will frustrate Forest, as recent developments suggest that they didn’t need to let go of Johnson, and could have perhaps held out for a larger fee.
They will feel incredibly hard done by, but for Tottenham and Levy, that doesn’t matter one bit.
The North London side have come out as winners in this whole transfer mess, with Levy showing his fantastic business know-how by sensing an opportunity and capitalising on it.
If Johnson can continue to develop into a top player at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, this transfer could one day be looked back on as a real moment of genius from the Spurs chairman.
In other Tottenham news, Levy is on a collision course with England boss Gareth Southgate after a decision made by the Spurs chairman this week.
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