Brennan Johnson: What about Wales and Spurs’ Mystery?

While the specter of Bale is inevitable in Wales, there is another unlikely Johnson to follow at Spurs, joining the same transfer window in which Harry Kane is out of Bayern Munich.

“He comes in at a weird time for the club. I’m not sure they have a good plan for replacing Kane,” said Jack Pitt-Brooke, who covers Thettenicham for Athletic.

“Johnson entered a difficult moment but, with injuries to other players, he ended up playing tons that year and he was really good.”

It helped that it was ex-Spurs Boss BossCogou who signed Johnson, who scored 23 goals in all competitions in his first two seasons.

“He embodies what it’s like to claim from the spots,” Pitt-Brooke added. “Really long and wide, scoring goals where a winger goes down one side, pulls the ball across the box, and also heads two across, and taps it in at the far post.”

Under Postecoglou, Spurs won the Spuropa League – with Johnson scoring the winner in the final against Manchester United after the club finished in the Premier League.

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

“Frank wants to play a different way, and he wants his wings to do more with the ball than to score Tap-ins,” Pitt-Brooke said.

“Spurs paid £55m for Kudus, who didn’t score many goals, but everything until he scored the opposition’s goal was better than Johnson.

“At the moment I don’t think any Spurs fan has Johnson in their first team. It’s not really clear where he fits in.”

Johnson managed four goals in his 17 appearances in all competitions this season but, according to many supporters and pundits, did not offer much.

“He doesn’t really do much other than score goals,” Pitt-Brooke said. “There are obviously bad things about being someone known for scoring a lot of goals, but I think people probably expected him to do more than he did.

“He’s a bit of a mystery.”