‘It needs to be done’ – Newcastle United in Nottingham Forest transfer race: The verdict

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…

Newcastle United are reportedly one of the sides interested in Nottingham Forest attacker Brennan Johnson.

According to The Athletic, Newcastle and Leeds United are keen on the 20-year-old but Brentford are the only side to make a concrete bid.

So, would Johnson be a good signing for the Magpies? And do they need him?

We quizzed our FLW writers…

Declan Harte

Johnson has been electric for Nottingham Forest and has earned the huge price tag. His seven goals and five assists in the Championship this season have helped power Forest into play-off contention.

Newcastle could very much do with a player of his quality if they want to avoid the drop this campaign.

Eddie Howe’s side have been far too one-dimensional this season and could definitely use the extra spark that Johnson could provide.

Money is also seemingly no object for Newcastle this January, so this move seems like a logical choice with the club currently struggling to land any of their other transfer targets.

Charlie Gregory

To be honest, this is much more like the type of signing Newcastle should be making and if they land him it would be a fantastic investment by them.

They’ve been linked with tons of players because of their newfound wealth but Johnson is arguably the best. He’s young and certainly talented and would present a signing that could do a job for them now, as well as potentially becoming even better in the future.

Forest would be a lot worse without him because I feel that Johnson is the real deal. It would have to take a lot to tempt the