Brennan Johnson has proved he can mix it with Son Heung-min and Co at Spurs… now he can show it for Wales, says Rob Page
BRENNAN JOHNSON has already proved he can mix it with the best at Tottenham.
That’s the view of Johnson’s Wales boss Robert Page, who has hailed the forward’s early promise since his £47.5million move from Nottingham Forest.
The 22-year-old impressed in Monday’s chaotic 4-1 Premier League loss to Chelsea before he was sacrificed in the 34th minute by Ange Postecoglou for Eric Dier following Cristian Romero’s red card.
Johnson is set to have a bigger role to play for high-flying Tottenham at Wolves on Saturday with Richarlison out with a pelvic injury and James Maddison struggling with an ankle knock.
But Page reckons the signs are positive for Johnson, who set up Son Heung-min for a first-half goal against the Blues which was disallowed for offside.
When asked if the Wales star now belongs at the same level as Spurs captain Son, Page replied: “Absolutely. We’ve all seen the potential.
“When I worked with him at the 21s and the younger age groups I could see he was going to go there.
“It’s taken him a little bit of time to get up to that standard, he’s shown glimpses of it.
“What is important now is that he sustains that level by playing with those players and the demands of the manager (Ange Postecoglou) there and he will absolutely do that.
“He’s at a big club now pushing for the top four so the demands on him will be extreme.
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“The squad of players he’s got around him now will be slightly different to what he is used to but even by training with the players he’s with will bring him to another level.
“He looked good for half an hour against Chelsea. The goal he set up for Son was incredible. He’s finding a position that suits him.
“When you go down to 10, it has an impact on the team and unfortunately it was Brennan who was substituted.
“From a selfish point of view I was quite pleased.”
Following Saturday’s trip to Molineux, Johnson will link up with Page for Wales’ crunch Euro 2024 qualifiers against Armenia and Turkey.
Two wins will book a finals spot for the Dragons in Germany next summer.
Johnson missed last month’s 2-1 win over Croatia due to a hamstring injury and has only made five Spurs appearances so far since the deadline day move in September
But Page has no concerns over his fitness this season.
Ex-Sheffield United defender Page, 49, added: “When you go to a new club with different methods and different training sometimes you pick up niggles because you are used to training in a certain way.
“That’s all he’s had. I’m not concerned at all.”
Versatile forward Johnson can play on both flanks as well as through the middle as a number nine.
But what is his best position?
Page said: “I’m not going to pigeon-hole him as a nine. Brennan is proving at club level that he can play a multitude of positions. He can play one of the front three easily.
“We’ve got Kieffer (Moore) as a nine but Brennan can play that as well. He did that for us in Latvia. I like him as a nine purely because of his pace.
“There’s not a defender out there who’s going to want to play against him and DJ (Daniel James) because pace frightens defenders.
“He’s showing it at Tottenham on the left and again that suits us with the way we play now and it’s good to have that competition for places.”