Crystal Palace and Everton have completed a swap deal sending Brennan Johnson to Merseyside and Dwight McNeil to South London, with both players signing four-year contracts.
Johnson joins David Moyes' side eight months after Palace signed him from Tottenham Hotspur for a then club record fee of £35million. McNeil moves in the opposite direction, from Everton to Palace.
The deal comes after an earlier attempt to move McNeil to Palace collapsed at the last minute on Deadline Day in the winter. That transfer, an initial loan with a £20million obligation to buy, fell through even after McNeil underwent his medical.
Girlfriend's Instagram criticism of Palace
The collapse of the winter deal led to a furious reaction from Megan Sharpley, McNeil's girlfriend, who posted a lengthy series of Instagram stories criticising what happened, including accusing Palace of harming the winger's mental health.
Reports in The Times on Monday said Palace co-owner and chairman Steve Parish held clear-the-air talks with Sharpley. At the time, Palace had submitted a deal sheet for McNeil's move but failed to complete the paperwork in time. Everton sources said they had fulfilled their part of the deal, but Palace went quiet on finalising the paperwork, effectively pulling out, and the transfer ran out of time.
Sharpley describes 'cruelty' of collapsed move
In her statement after the deal collapsed, Sharpley described the cruelty of the football world, saying McNeil had been toyed with until the final minute and left broken hearted with nothing but confusion.
She said she had always been in awe of McNeil's commitment to his job and that the previous 48 hours had broken her heart to see how cruel football could be to him. She said he had been promised four and a half years of his life, with travel, medicals and agreements made, only for it to be torn away at the last second with no explanation, followed by radio silence and no communication.
Sharpley questioned why it was considered acceptable to toy with the mental health of young players simply because they earn a lot of money, and said she hoped more would be done in future to protect people from similar situations. She referenced her own illness, having been diagnosed with a large, serious tumour on her ovary and undergoing urgent open surgery in December 2023, a period during which she said McNeil gave her unwavering support. She ended her post by voicing support for McNeil staying at Everton at the time.
McNeil and Johnson respond
McNeil shared the final story from Sharpley's post at the time and wrote that he was still left in the dark, but that he was an Everton player and would use the situation as motivation, thanking his partner for her love and support.
After completing his move to Everton, Johnson told evertontv he was excited to join, describing Everton as a massive club he had wanted to be part of as soon as he heard of their interest. He cited the manager, the players and the club's direction as reasons for the move, and said it felt like a good match.
Johnson becomes the fifth summer signing for Moyes' squad, following the activation of Merlin Rohl's loan obligation and the additions of Hayden Hackney, Tyrique George and Christian Norgaard.
McNeil, who made 128 appearances for Everton since joining from Burnley in 2022, has now signed his four-year contract with Palace. He said the team had enjoyed great success over the last two seasons and that he wanted to be part of that, adding that he was looking forward to getting started.
