Nottingham Forest academy coach Gary Brazil believes that Brennan Johnson has a very high ceiling, stating that the Tottenham star can become as good as he wants to be.
Johnson hit the limelight with his outstanding displays in the Championship during the 2021-22 season, playing a key role in helping Forest win promotion to the Premier League.
The youngster once again caught the eye in his debut season in the top-flight last term, thus convincing Spurs to part ways with £47.5m to bring him to North London.
Unlike some of Tottenham’s other summer signings, Johnson has not quite hit his stride just yet, although the pace wide-man has shown glimpses of how dangerous he can be in the final third.
Speaking to Football.London, Ange Postecoglou said last week that it was always going to take the youngster time to adjust to his new surroundings but remarked he is convinced that the winger can ‘go up a level’.
Just how good can Brennan Johnson become?
Brazil, who has followed Johnson’s development closely over the years, believes that it is a matter of time before the Spurs star starts terrorising full-backs.
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He told The Athletic: “Brennan had a significant knee injury when he was 15 and was out for the best part of a year. He had always looked technically very good, but he had not been the strongest.
“When he came back, his pace started to show, he became quicker. Your eyes would light up when you saw him. He started to play in the under-21s. He would have moments in games where you would be thinking, ‘Oh, wow… go on, son’.
“Duelling was always a big thing. You always watched to see how players did in duels. And he would go by people almost as if they were not there. We would encourage players like Brennan to get high and wide and try to take on defenders one-on-one. Brennan thrived.
“Now you see him doing it against Kyle Walker and you know that Tottenham have a very good player on their hands. He definitely can be anything he wants.”
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One can tell from Johnson’s body language that he is under a bit of pressure, with the youngster perhaps overly keen to prove himself at Tottenham and show that he is deserving of the price tag.
I do wonder if it might help the 22-year-old to take him off the firing line for a few weeks and bring him on as a substitute for the final 20 minutes so that he can build up his confidence.
However, Ange does not have that luxury at the moment, given the injuries to Manor Solomon, Ivan Perisic and James Maddison.
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