Everton and Crystal Palace have agreed a straight swap that sends Dwight McNeil to Selhurst Park and Brennan Johnson to Everton, with no money moving in either direction. Both wingers were expected to have medicals at their new clubs on Monday before signing four-year contracts, understood to carry the option of a further 12 months.
Swaps between Premier League clubs are permitted but rarely seen, and this one is unusual even by that standard: most deals described as swaps are two separate transfers with fees attached in both directions, while this is a genuine exchange with no fee either way.
The deal Palace already had, and dropped
What makes McNeil's move remarkable is that Palace had him six months ago and let him go. On the February deadline day they had agreed a loan-to-buy arrangement including a £20m permanent move, and McNeil had completed a medical and agreed terms on a four-and-a-half-year contract. A deal sheet was submitted before the 19:00 GMT deadline, buying two extra hours. The two clubs do not agree on what happened next. Everton's understanding is that the transfer was effectively complete pending signatures and that Palace got cold feet, having filed their own paperwork while Palace did not. Those close to Palace say an agreement in principle was reached but never a total deal, because the structure and the performance-related add-ons were unresolved, and that they had been up front with McNeil that the time constraints left a scenario in which it would not be completed.