Nottingham Forest look to have landed a £20million bonus by keeping Brennan Johnson at the club.
Forest’s promotion to the Premier League almost certainly means their prized 21-year-old midfielder will stay. Boss Steve Cooper has urged the club’s money men to get academy graduate Johnson tied down to a long-term deal. Local lad Johnson, is desperate to stay at Forest now they have managed to make the step into the big time.
Brentford had a £13m bid turned down in January and Leicester, Everton, Newcastle and Tottenham were all ready to move in should Forest slip at the final hurdle. Now Cooper heads for the beach confident he can hang on to most of his players for the coming campaign. Missing out would have seen his squad ravaged by departures, but jubilant Wembley scenes signal less worries on that front.
Cooper headed straight on holiday after the victory over Huddersfield but can now plan ahead sound in the knowledge that the biggest part of his transfer budget will probably be spent keeping players at the club. Johnson was the No.1 priority.
But the Forest fan who has been called up by Wales said at the club’s civic reception today: “Yesterday was the best day of my life. I can’t wait to play here next season.”
Johnson scored 19 goals and nine assists in 53 outings and his dad, former Reds striker David Johnson, confirmed that securing the Premier League ticket would make negotiations a different story. Johnson looks set to stay and Cooper will try to tie up deals for on-loan stars James Garner, Djed Spence and Philip Zinckernagel. Garner is heading back to Manchester United and while a permanent deal would look highly unlikely, Cooper may try and see if another loan is an option.
Spence is on loan from Middlesbrough but Forest will explore making the deal permanent for around £15m. Defender Joe Worral - who was a £15m target for West Ham and Leicester - also looks set to stay. Cooper won’t have ridiculous sums to spend, but most of the £50m cash pot is likely to be used securing the services of the likes of Spence.
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He’ll have some left over to bring in reinforcements but is happy with what he’s got on the books already. On-loan Watford midfielder Philip Zinckernagel could be another permanent addition with The Hornets expected to want around £2m for the Dane. Former Forest star Stan Collymore agrees saying the club needs to make its first target just staying in the top flight.
Collmore said: “Brennan Johnson is a local lad. Why would he want to go anywhere else? Forest don’t need to spend loads of dough they just need to make sure the budget is balanced.”
Splashing stupid money won’t be an the menu, full stop. It will be a case of proceed with caution as most of the key pieces are already there. Scott McKenna, a £3m signing from Aberdeen has been a revelation this season and he’s cost them a further £1m.
The Dons had that figure included in a promotion clause. Cooper will be more than happy to cough up and could be tempted to sanction a deal for on-loan striker Keinan Davis should Aston Villa be willing to sell.
