A rare direct exchange

Crystal Palace have finally secured Dwight McNeil, six months after his failed deadline-day move to the club, while Brennan Johnson is heading to Everton in the opposite direction. The two Premier League clubs have agreed a genuine player-for-player exchange, with both players valued at the same level and no cash payment expected to change hands.

The agreement is unusual in an era when clubs increasingly structure exchanges as separate transfers, particularly when they involve academy graduates and are designed to help meet financial regulations. Premier League officials are expected to assess the transaction under fair-market-value rules.

Why the deal is so difficult to complete

Direct swaps require two clubs to agree on two contracts, player valuations, wages, image-rights arrangements and agents’ fees at the same time. The players must also be willing to move in opposite directions. As one Premier League owner previously put it: “It’s hard enough to get one player to move, let alone two in the same deal.”

The financial framework adds another layer of complexity. Transfer fees are amortised over a player’s contract, while clubs must protect the accounting value of their assets and account for transfer levies and other costs. Under the current squad-cost-ratio system, the agreed values of McNeil and Johnson will be amortised over the four-year contracts they have signed.

Both players are represented by Unique Sports Group, which helped broker the proposal. The shared agency relationship, combined with Palace’s continuing interest in McNeil and Everton’s desire to move on from a player with one year left on his contract, allowed negotiations to advance unusually quickly.

Everton seek pace and a fresh start for Johnson

Everton had valued McNeil at roughly £15 million but were looking for a creative solution that would guarantee his departure while improving their squad. The club had tracked Johnson previously and sees the Wales international’s pace, movement and ability to attack the back post as qualities that can strengthen David Moyes’ team.

Johnson arrived at Palace from Tottenham for £35 million in January but endured a difficult spell. He made 13 league starts, failed to score in 26 appearances across all competitions and had slipped out of the team by the end of the season. Everton believe he could prove a bargain if he recaptures the form he showed at Nottingham Forest and Tottenham, where he scored 18 goals in all competitions during the 2024-25 season.

His role at Everton is expected to be as a direct replacement for McNeil rather than an automatic substitute for Iliman Ndiaye or Jack Grealish, should either player’s situation change.

McNeil gets another chance at Palace

McNeil joined Everton from Burnley for £20 million in 2022 and had an estimated remaining book value of about £5 million. Any transaction above that figure would represent a profit for Everton in squad-cost accounting, even if the deal involved no cash changing hands.

Palace retained interest in McNeil after the collapse of his winter move. The club had to rebuild the player’s confidence in the move after pulling out at the last moment in February, but a long-term contract and the prospect of Europa League football helped persuade him to return to the negotiating table.

McNeil’s tendency to drift into central areas and shoot with his left foot could suit Palace’s attacking structure more closely than it did Everton’s. At the same time, Everton hope Moyes can provide Johnson with a system better suited to his direct running and explosive movement.

A familiar Premier League rarity

True Premier League swap deals remain uncommon. The most prominent recent example before this agreement came in January 2018, when Alexis Sanchez moved from Arsenal to Manchester United and Henrikh Mkhitaryan went the other way. Neither player ultimately enjoyed a successful spell at his new club.

Previous exchanges involving clubs including Aston Villa, Chelsea, Everton and Newcastle United were generally recorded as separate transactions, partly because UEFA regulations require particular treatment of player-exchange accounting. The newer rules reduce the incentive to inflate profits through such arrangements, but every valuation must still withstand scrutiny.

Johnson and McNeil could face their former clubs immediately: Everton are scheduled to host Palace on the opening weekend of the Premier League season. That fixture will provide an early test of whether the unusual exchange has given both players the fresh start their new clubs expect.