This article is part of Football League World’s ‘The Verdict’ series, which provides personal opinions from the FLW writers regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Villarreal have joined the race for exciting Nottingham Forest attacker Brennan Johnson, as per a report from The Independent. 

The report states that Brentford have offered the 20-year-old personal terms, whilst Everton engaged in positive talks with the Championship star and his representatives.

Netting 15 goals and providing nine assists in 42 Championship appearances this season, Johnson has adapted to the rigours of second-tier football seamlessly, proving to be a source of consistency in the process.

The same Independent report claims that Leicester City, Newcastle United and Villarreal are set for talks with the talented attacker as summer nears.

Three of our writers here at FLW have shared their thoughts assessing Villarreal as a potential destination for Brennan Johnson...

 

 

Toby Wilding 

This does look as though it could be a really good potential next move for Johnson.

We have seen this season that Villarreal are not afraid to give chances to players they have signed from the Championship, with Arnaut Danjuma thriving following his move from Bournemouth last summer.

With Johnson currently making a similar impact in English football's second-tier to what Danjuma did last season, he too could have the ability to really establish himself at El Madrigal from next season.

Given he would be doing that with a club many will be tipping for a good deal of success following their outstanding run to the semi finals of the Champions League during the current campaign, that could certainly make this an appealing destination for a player such as Johnson, where he could also benefit from not being in quite as direct focus of fans and the media, as he would be if he stayed in English football.

Simmey Hannifin-Donaldson 

You don't have to look far back to see the last time Villarreal had success with talent from the EFL with Arnaut Danjuma having made the move there following an impressive campaign at AFC Bournemouth last season.

Danjuma has done excellently in Spain, and that's perhaps why the Spanish club are once again keeping an eye on England's second-tier for talent.

If Johnson believes he will play regularly over there, this could be an interesting career move for him and certainly something completely different to what he has experienced before.

Personally, I'd wait until the end of the season to see if Forest get promoted or not before deciding on my future, but, if Forest don't go up, there's no reason a move to Villarreal couldn't work out for the talented Welsh international.

Marcus Ally 

It is easy to draw a comparison to Arnaut Danjuma and his move from Bournemouth to Villarreal last summer, they are very different types of forwards but it shows that the Yellow Submarine are happy to offer regular game time to a player straight out of the Championship.

It would be a very intriguing move for Johnson, however, I do feel like the perfect next step for the 20-year-old, if Forest do not win promotion, would be to join Brentford.

We have seen in recent years how good they have been at developing forwards under Thomas Frank, and with a couple of seasons of regular first team football under his belt, Johnson could be better prepared to make the leap to European football.

Whereas, fast-tracking to Villarreal, who are not guaranteed European football next season yet, would be more of a risk.