Tottenham agree £47m deal with Nottingham Forest for Brennan ...

Tottenham have agreed a £47.5m deal to sign Brennan Johnson from Nottingham Forest. The London club have prioritised the addition of Johnson, with Ange Postecoglou seeing the forward as the ideal fit for his style and negotiations with Forest have progressed throughout the week.

Johnson, who would not be available for Spurs’s game at Burnley on Saturday, the move having missed Friday’s registration deadline, has been coveted by a host of clubs, including Chelsea, Aston Villa, West Ham and Brentford. Spurs have acted decisively, having been impressed by the 22-year-old’s breakthrough season in the Premier League last year. He scored eight goals and added three assists in 38 appearances as he helped Forest to stay up after their promotion.

Capped 20 times by Wales, Johnson can play off either flank or through the centre. Blessed with pace and quick feet, the Forest academy product bolsters Postecoglou’s options as Spurs enter the post-Harry Kane era. The manager’s current front three are Dejan Kulusevski, Richarlison and Son Heung-min.

In reserve are the new signing, Manor Solomon, Bryan Gil (currently injured) and Ivan Perisic, who Postecoglou has used as a left-winger. Alejo Véliz, the 19-year-old striker who signed for £12.9m from Rosario Central, will be bedded in gradually.

It has been a busy end to a chaotic window at Spurs, where Postecoglou – himself a new hire – has worked without a sporting director after the resignation of Fabio Paratici in late April. The club have loaned the defenders, Japhet Tanganga and Sergio Reguilón, to Augsburg and Manchester United, respectively. Augsburg will be obliged to buy Tanganga for €6m (£5.1m) if he makes a certain number of appearances. There are January break clauses on both sides in each deal.

In midfield, Spurs hoped to move on Pierre-Emile Højbjerg but he turned down the chance to go to Fulham and, as the hours ticked down to the deadline, he was expected to stay put. Ditto Eric Dier, who Postecoglou has frozen out. Spurs’s difficulty in shifting Højbjerg has made it hard for them to take Conor Gallagher from Chelsea.

Spurs have an interest in the Bournemouth centre-back, Lloyd Kelly. They remain open to offers for Davinson Sánchez and Tanguy Ndombele and want to resolve the situation concerning Hugo Lloris.

Postecoglou described the summer window as “unusual” in terms of how the club have sought to drive wholesale change without a sporting director. The chief scout, Leonardo Gabbanini, has taken on a prominent role with Paratici offering advice in the background. Postecoglou made it clear he expected the appointment of a sporting director sooner rather than later. Scott Munn, hired as the chief football officer, has still not officially started.

“Where there’s a new manager and no sporting director I think anyone would say it’s unusual,” Postecoglou said. “Usually you’d have one or the other. Here, you’re going into a window where a lot of things that are usually embedded aren’t there.

“Am I expecting a resolution soon? Yes. That’s the club’s plan. It’s fair to say that going into the window, there was no point in rushing that appointment, particularly with a new manager in. The thinking behind it was that probably the best way to charter this unusual process is to have as less involvement with new people as possible. I think we’ve navigated the period pretty well.

“I like working with a sporting director because they do most of the leg work that I just don’t have the time to do. When you’ve got a good sporting director you work together. They see the game through your eyes and they say: ‘This guy is going to be perfect for you.’”

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