This is the sort of early return that turns a summer swap deal from theory into a very loud argument. Brennan Johnson did not just settle into Everton against Preston at Deepdale; he tore straight through the game, and in the process left Dwight McNeil with a sharply awkward comparison hanging over him.
On his second appearance for Everton, Johnson came on in the 64th minute and changed the match almost immediately. Six minutes later he set up Thierno Barry, and two minutes after that he scored himself. In a 4-0 Carabao Cup win over Preston, that was not just impact. That was a statement.
The timing matters because the wider story is impossible to miss. In January, Brennan Johnson cost Crystal Palace £35m, but he had not scored in 26 appearances before leaving. Earlier this summer, Crystal Palace exchanged Brennan Johnson for Dwight McNeil in a direct swap deal, and now Everton are the club seeing the instant payoff. McNeil, for his part, made his debut in a 2-0 defeat against Everton, which only sharpens the contrast.
A swap deal that already looks uneven
There are plenty of reasons to avoid overreacting to one cup tie. Preston are Preston, and one strong cameo does not rewrite a career. But this was not some cosmetic contribution in a comfortable win. Johnson produced a first assist and a first goal in the space of six minutes, then set a new Everton record for the shortest time between those milestones. That is the sort of early burst clubs dream about when they talk themselves into a deal.
And the deal itself is now the story. If a player can arrive, make a visible difference in his second outing and do it with that kind of speed, then the club giving him up is immediately forced onto the defensive. Crystal Palace may point to the logic of the exchange, and they may well have had reasons for doing it. But the uncomfortable truth is that Johnson looks as if he has brought Everton exactly what they needed, while Dwight McNeil is still waiting to show the same kind of decisive return.
It is also worth remembering the broader backdrop. Crystal Palace still had not won against Everton on Merseyside since 2014, and that long-running frustration now sits next to a direct personnel trade that is already producing one very obvious winner. The game was supposed to be a simple cup night. Instead, it became an early referendum on a summer swap that is already looking hard to defend.
Everton will not care about the noise. They have a player who has started fast, found a teammate, found the net, and done it with ruthless efficiency. For Crystal Palace, and for Dwight McNeil, that is a rather less comfortable headline.
