Ange Postecoglou has said that we have not seen the best of Brennan Johnson yet, insisting that there is a lot more to come from the winger in a Tottenham shirt.
Unlike some of Tottenham’s other summer signings, who had the benefit of a full pre-season, Johnson arrived on transfer deadline day in a £47.5m deal from Nottingham Forest.
The 22-year-old’s bedding-in period was also interrupted by a few injuries and it has thus taken some time for him to find his feet.
However, over the last month or so, the Wales international has shown glimpses of the quality he possesses, and his compatriot, Ben Davies, spoke in glowing terms of the work that the winger did on and off the ball in Tottenham’s win over Newcastle United last Sunday (Spurs Play).
Postecoglou says Johnson has a high ceiling at Spurs
Ahead of Johnson’s return to the City Ground, Postecoglou remarked that the pressure of a big price tag is not easy to cope with and pointed out that the attacker walked into a relatively inexperienced Spurs side.
The Tottenham boss told Football.London about the winger: “I guess there’s always some pressure there [with the price tag] and I always bear in mind that he’s 22, Destiny and Pape is 21, Kulusevski is 23 and they’re all very, very young men.
“Regardless of how much we say to them ‘don’t worry about the price tag, don’t worry about the expectation level’ they are human beings so it affects them one way or another. Usually, you are kind of hoping you get an idea of the kind of human being they are, the trajectory their career has taken.
“You look at Brennan and he’s had a really good upbringing and a really good foundation at Forest coming through and the way he’s developed his football. It’s suggested to me that even if he’s taken a while to adjust, he’s shown already that he can go up a level.”
The Australian stated that he has been really pleased with Johnson’s effort and attitude, confidently asserting that there is a lot more to come from the player.
He added: “I’ve been really pleased with him, it’s always hard when players come in late in the window, particularly to a new environment because it’s not like we were already established and he just had to plug in.
“The whole group was still learning how we are going to play and he’s walked in last minute and I’ve been really happy with him, and the big thing is that we know there’s still loads more to come.”
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Johnson has already shown that he has an eye for goal and that he can be quite effective in one-on-one situations. What has perhaps been lacking is consistency in the final third.
However, there is no doubt that the 22-year-old is a nightmare to play against as he works his socks off out of possession and hardly gives players any time on the ball, which is undoubtedly a trait that Ange will love.