Although Brennan Johnson added a second European trophy to his cabinet by winning the Conference League for Crystal Palace under Oliver Glasner just months after joining the local London rivals, Tottenham Hotspur do not regret the sale of their own 2024/25 Europa League Final hero against Manchester United one bit.
While Johnson came up big against the Red Devils with the winning goal and had a penchant for poaching goals, the Welsh international just was not a very good Premier League winger, which Palace supporters figured out pretty quickly after striking the winter transfer window deal with Spurs. Johnson cost 35 million pounds, which, historically, is an excellent sale for Spurs and one of their best, highlighting how poor the club has been in the past at selling players they do not need or use at the right time.
Now, Johnson did lack the ability to do literally anything else a winger should be doing like taking defenders on, covering ground to progress the ball, and creating chances, but he was a great source of goals and honestly important to Spurs winning the 2024/25 Europa League title, even beyond his fabled winner vs. Manchester United.
Cody Gakpo can be a better version of Brennan Johnson
Perhaps the way Brennan Johnson was able to get into the box, poach goals, and be a threat is why Tottenham Hotspur want Cody Gakpo. In a way, Gakpo is a better version of what Johnson brings to the table. He can score at least as many goals with similar instincts to score, but he is taller, a better athlete physically, and a better finisher.
Gakpo is also better creatively, even though he, like Johnson, struggles to be a true out and out winger, as we all saw at Liverpool last season when he failed to fill the shoes of the explosive Luis Diaz on the left wing. He can't take defenders on or progress the ball otu wide, but tucking inside, he can create his own shot and do so with more class than Johnson - hence why Liverpool seem to want double for Gakpo than what Tottenham sold Johnson for.
Roberto De Zerbi is apparently a huge fan of Cody Gakpo, which is why Spurs are so closely linked to the player and even seem to be as likely to sign the Dutch international as they are Manchester City's younger and more explosive Brazilian standout Savinho.
Most Spurs fans would prefer the profile and quality of Savinho, but Tottenham may want both. And the success Johnson had being a supplement to the goals at striker, which were very much lacking then as well, may be behind some of the club's interest in Gakpo.
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