Brennan Johnson: Crystal Palace start has been a struggle - but I'm so fortunate to be here | OneFootball

Welsh winger is gearing up for a Conference League final, 12 months after winning the Europa League with Tottenham

Brennan Johnson has admitted he struggled to settle at Crystal Palace after his big-money move from Tottenham in January.

Palace parted with a then club-record £35million fee to bring Johnson to Selhurst Park just two days into the January transfer window.

Having struggled for minutes at Spurs, Johnson signed for Palace in the hopes of earning a regular starting berth.

Negotiations were wrapped up very quickly and, with Ismaila Sarr away at the Africa Cup of Nations, Johnson was afforded immediate opportunities.

The winger started five successive league games between January and February but, as his form struggled he soon fell out of favour.

It was all new, even though it was only in London ... a new changing room, a new team, a new club

Brennan Johnson

“It is something that I haven't had the time to reflect on, to be honest, just because of how it works in January,” Johnson told Standard Sport.

“I literally signed, and two days later, I was up in Newcastle playing. It happened so fast.”

Johnson cemented himself into Spurs folklore when he netted the winning goal in the Europa League final last season.

The Welsh winger had then expected to flourish under the then-Spurs manager Thomas Frank, who had been heavily interested in Johnson while at Brentford.

Instead, with Mohammed Kudus signed for £60m and preferred on the right, Johnson found himself on the fringes of Spurs’ squad.

Changing teams mid-season can be tricky for players, which is why clubs tend to leave their business until the summer.

But Palace’s need for attacking reinforcements was clear, and Johnson was keen to play more minutes.

Brennan Johnson with the Europa League trophy last season

Getty

Still, Johnson admits it was difficult to swap north for south-east London.

“It was a new experience for me, changing teams mid-season,” Johnson continued. “I'll be honest, it was one that I probably struggled with a little bit at the time.

“It was all new, even though it was only in London. But it's a new changing room, a new team, a new club. It was one that I didn't really have too much time to reflect.

“But what I can say is the boys and the staff and the fans here have made me feel welcome. I owe a lot of thanks to them for making me feel at home here.

Johnson has a tattoo of the Europa League trophy on his right leg to commemorate the night Spurs beat Manchester United in Bilbao last May to lift their first major trophy in 17 years.

The winger hopes to add another tattoo when Palace take on Rayo Vallecano in the Conference League final on Wednesday and says it would mean a lot to him to score his first Palace goal in the club’s first major European final.

Johnson continued: “It would mean a lot to me [to score in the final]. I know I'm in a fortunate position, the fact that I'm here again and being able to play in a European final.

“So, just to hopefully be successful and to be part of this team. It's a new club, it's a new fan base, one that had an experience of winning last season.

“But I'm sure we'll do anything to do it again. So, it's something that I'm really excited about, and I'm really thankful for.”