Midfielder Brennan Johnson may be on Everton's list of targets

I don't know anything about him but I'm glad we are shopping for 20 year olds with first team experience in the championship, looking to improve themselves, rather than over the hill, former international, mercenaries looking for a retirement home.

That said, £20m for a player unproven in the Premier League is beyond the pale. I would expect to pick up someone like Gallagher, the lad doing a great job at Crystal Palace on loan from Chelsea, for that kind of money.

Agree Drew, probably the most reliable place for us to do our shopping. I can't see us shelling out £20m though. So unless Forest are desperate for money then this one seems unlikely.

Getting rave reviews in the Championship, with a lot of teams watching him, but we paid £30m for an Arsenal reserve, so could be a coup.

Good shout Drew.

Nice to think our scouting team is looking for young talent in the lower leagues with the possible potential to take us to the next level rather than old pros with no sell-on value looking for a last payday.

Obviously they are not all going to make the jump to the Premier League so £20M looks a bit strong for this lad.

Gallagher would be much more than £20M. Maybe in the summer, maybe, after his season at West Brom. But now you'd be looking at £40M upwards.

£20M is pretty much standard for Championship proven: Maddison, Buendia, Bowen, Watkins, Benramha, Sessegnon, Eze, Adams, Armstrong are just a few that come to mind that all cost in the region of £20M or more.

I like what I've seen of Gallagher I'd have him in a heartbeat for £20M. However, I think he will be back at Chelsea next season and starting games, he's on a Mason Mount trajectory.

Brennan Johnson is an interesting one: there are reportedly six Premier League clubs interested. He has 18 months to run on his contract and is stalling on the offer of a new one from Nottm Forest.

Last season, he was on loan at Lincoln, scoring 13 goals. Not bad at all for a 19-year-old in that league. The experience has brought him on a level and he is building on it now. The Forest fans would be very upset to see him depart.

I can see one of the mid-table Premier League clubs taking a, risky at the price, punt on him.

Here's a fairly recent scouting report on him.

Best Young Players – Brennan Johnson

There is another lad making waves in the Championship and he comes on a free.

His name is Nathan Broadhead and he is doing a great job at Sunderland on loan from our U23 group.

Speaking of targets, didn't we once buy a guy from Locomotive Moscow for £19 million?

He's currently training with West Didsbury and Chorlton in the North West counties league.

We were robbed on that one.

Sunderland are in League one & struggling to get out of that division. Nathan did score a cracker the other night against Arsenal in the League Cup showing great pace & a cool head to finish delightfully. However he subsequently pulled up lame with a hamstring & could be out for sometime. It's a big step up from League one to the Championship & an even bigger one from the Championship to the Prem. Brennan has ability & I'd be happy enough to see him come in, alongside a young right back also.

Yes Jay, He's doing really well, the composure and chipped finish against Arsenal on Tuesday was quality.

Good shout Jay on Nathan B, sometimes people can't see the wood for the trees. There is a very thin dividing line, between players allegedly valued at £XM, and those who are butons or on a free, most of the time it hinges on a couple of rave reviews, or just having a great game or two in front of the cameras !

Deffo seems Benitez wants a “number 10” – a couple of pretty reliable sources on Twitter have reported it, The Bobble as recent as today in a live chat.

One report that has made my heart sink was we are back in talks with Coutinho. Rumour is Moshiri wants him and we came close in the summer but Barca wanted too much, and we shifted James too late.

Don't shoot the messenger... 😂! I'm just relaying transfer information I see on Twitter from sources I have seen be quite reliable over the past 18 months.

Jay and Derek, unfortunately Broadhead isn't available. Shortly after scoring against Arsenal the other day -- his 6th goal in 6 games -- he limped off with a significant hamstring injury, his second of the season. His manager called it a "disaster."

On the subject of young players; I saw a young lad score for Leeds on his Premier League debut on TV recently. HIs name was Joe Gelhardt and he was interviewed after the game and spoke in a broad Scouse accent. I looked him up and it says: "Born in Liverpool... supported Everton growing up."

How come I don't know anything about him? Have we shown any interest in him in the past?

Nicholas, Gelhardt is a product of Wigan's academy. We were linked with him a couple of season's back, however we weren't prepared to match the bid made by Leeds I believe & were simply outbid.

Nicholas & Steve,

I mentioned Joe on the Live Forum recently. He is from Netherton and he went to Chesterfield High School. A work mate's lad went to school with him and apparently he was not even looked at by Everton when he was young. I guess kids progress at different rates… plus and our scouts are shite.

Can I remind you, David Gerald Unsworth was a full England international in his day.

Let's show the man a little more respect!

Tony @6,

Interesting site that you lnked to – scoutedftbl.com.

I could not find even a mention of a single Everton prospect.

Tony (6), I haven't seen the lad but you saying that a mid table club could take a chance in buying this lad rang a bell with me over Bowen who played for Hull City, a bit older than Johnson, and Moyes took a chance by buying him for WHU for around £15- 20M and now there are a few clubs sniffing round to move him up the ladder including Liverpool and he'll go for a lot more than WHU paid for him, I hope Liverpool don't get him, he's that good !!

As you say there is a risk in buying these lower league players but when they come off there are big rewards in what they bring to the team and with a big resale value.

I agree Dave, Bowen has been a great buy, I seem to remember us being linked with him a few times too.

With regards Brennan Johnson, Ellis Simms also has done very well in the lower leagues for Blackpool, as Jay says above Broadhead was making great strides too, scoring and people were starting to take notice of his talent, before very unluckily, he got injured. Johnson is a different player again and his goal stats are in the Simms maybe Broadhead ballpark.
I think the wide interest reflects that many scouts can see the lad has got what it takes with his game and pace to make an impact ahead of some other prospects. That probably what the 15-20m figure is all about. The other aspect for his decision will be path to the first team. He won't want to end up frustrated like Lookman. Maybe the challenge will be too great at Everton with Richie,Gray and Gordon, ahead of him and Dobbin also to battle with for the right to start.

At the same time Richie may not be here next season and Dobbin has not signed a new contract yet (I think). So we will be thinking strategically for next season.

Dave, All the very best to you, Tony and your family.
Also, to Michael and Lyndon for their quality writing, dedication and labour of love with this site.

And to all posters on TW, near and far, wishing you a merry Christmas, and Happy Blue Year for 2022.

If we do go for this lad, can we use him and get him going in the first team. Just for a change instead of leaving him in the reserves until he is forgotten.

Don't get too excited about £20 mill players. We haven't got two ha'pennies to rub together.

Tony, (20), it is reportd in today's papers that Benitez is confident that Dobbin will sign a new contract.

Tony, best wishes for a Happy, Healthy New Year to you and all your family.

I don't think in the context of the modern game shopping around the 10 - 20M bracket is a bad thing for any club. Liverpool done it to gradually improve and RB Leipzig have done it as a strategy for years. Both have been successful on the pitch and also in terms of transfer strategy when they've had to sell and then reinvest.

But regardless of what you spend, it's how you spend it and that comes down to scouting, judgement and decision making at all levels. And having a strategy. We've been shocking in that respect. At all levels; unless something has been put in place at Finch Farm that we're about to see the benefits of? We just need to back that up with some other sensible transfers.

@Tony Everan, hopefully we can use the loan system to good effect like Chelsea have done. It's encouraging we're talking about these young players now in a way we've not really been able to at Everton for a while now.

I've only watched Dobbin twice; cameo against Norwich and against Chelsea last week. I don't claim to be a professional scout, just a supporter of Everton and observer of football. I've liked what I've seen. He has energy and a buzz about him. I hope he gets managed and developed correctly. I see a number 10 / supporting striker in him. Please don't do the English thing and stick him out on the wing out of trouble, sight and mind because he's young and a bit lightweight so considered a risk. He needs to play central, but I'll leave that to those who have seen more of him.

I don't know Brennan, never seen the lad play but there's something about his name that doesn't sound or read right.

I want a fancier name, maybe a seasonal name like Santa deClaus, Elf Franco, Rudolph van Guide.

But I'm afraid we have a better chance of buying Leftova Turkey or Sogiya Puddington.

Coat, Taxi, confirmed. I'll keep enjoying the 'whine'

Justin, I deliberately watched the Middlesbrough vs Nottingham Forest game yesterday to get a glimpse of Brennan Johnson…

Guess what? I really had to scrutinise to catch him in action at all. Then the commentator announced a few current stats, the player with fewest touches!

Yes, you've guessed right, it was BJ! Let's move on, shall we?

Derek,

That's the problem with young players – they are usually inconsistent.

I watched Leicester yesterday and Lookman was a standout for Leicester even though they lost 3-6.

The problem is, if they show consistency in quality, they go for a much bigger fee and attract the rich 6 clubs.

How do we suddenly have some money to spend - I thought we were still subject to FFP limitations until at least the next window?

Steve, getting shut of wages from Walcott, Besic, James, Bernard etc and it adds up over 6 months