Brennan Johnson: Robert Page says forward ready for top level with Tottenham

Brennan Johnson has scored two Wales goals in 22 appearances

Wales manager Robert Page says forward Brennan Johnson is ready for the "extreme demands" of playing for a "big club" in the Premier League.

The 22-year-old joined Tottenham from Nottingham Forest on transfer deadline day in a deal worth in excess of £45m.

Johnson is seeking to establish himself as a regular starter in north London after overcoming an injury issue.

"Even by training with the players he's with at Tottenham will bring him to another level," Page explained.

"He's at a big, big club now pushing for top four so the demands on him will be extreme. The squad of players he's got around him now will be slightly different and I'm not concerned at all."

Johnson has returned to the Wales squad after injury to boost the team's bid to reach Euro 2024.

The Tottenham forward, along with captain Aaron Ramsey, missed the October win against Croatia that turned around Wales' campaign.

Wales will qualify for the European Championship if they win their last two Group D games against Armenia and Turkey later this month.

Page's side tackle Armenia in Yerevan on Saturday, 18 November, then face group leaders Turkey three days later in Cardiff.

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The inclusion of Johnson in the squad is a big boost for Page, who previously managed him for Wales Under-21s and other age grade levels.

Nottingham Forest academy graduate Johnson scored 29 goals and registered 12 assists across his 108 senior appearances for the club.

Page says the versatile forward can prove he deserves to be starting in the company of the likes of Spurs captain Son Heung-min at club level in the coming weeks.

"We've all seen the potential," Page said.

"When I worked with him at the under-21s and the younger age groups I could see he was going to go there [the top level]. It's taken him a little bit of time to get up to that standard, he's shown glimpses of it.

"What is important now is that he sustains that level by playing with those players and [meeting] the demands of the manager [Ange Postecoglou] there and he will absolutely do that."

Johnson has previously been deployed by Page as a central striker for Wales, despite only scoring twice for his country.

However, with Bournemouth forward Kieffer Moore likely to lead the line against Armenia, Page says he does not know what Johnson's best position is.

The forward often played on the right wing at previous club Nottingham Forest, while Johnson has been utilised on the left for his new club in a front three with Son and Dejan Kulusevski.

A potential surgery for Tottenham's Brazilian forward Richarlison could see Johnson gaining more minutes as a left-sided forward.

"Brennan is proving at club level that he can play a multitude of positions," Page said.

"It's a good problem for a manager to have. He adds quality. He's a different type of player to Kieffer [Moore] as a nine.

"He's finding a position that suits him. We've got Kieffer as a nine, but Brennan can play that as well.

"I like him as a nine purely because of his pace. There is not a defender out there who's going to want to play against him and DJ [Daniel James] because pace frightens defenders.

"He plays left of a three sometimes and again that suits us with of the way we play now.

"He can play any one of the front three positions easily and he's showing it at Tottenham on the left.

"So I'm not going to pigeonhole him as a number nine. I'm going to spread my bets and say [he can play] any of the front three positions."

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