Fresh off the back of a 2022/23 campaign that saw the youngster score eight times in his debut Premier League season, the hope will be that it is not too long before Johnson is shining in Lilywhite, helping to bolster an attacking unit that suffered the blow of losing talisman Harry Kane last month.
While recent hat-trick hero, Son is likely to keep his place through the middle, flanked by Manor Solomon – who registered two assists against the Clarets – down the left, the right-wing berth could well be where the £47.5m addition finds a permanent home.
Dejan Kulusevski has started every league game so far this term in that wide berth and scored against Bournemouth back in August, although the jury is out on whether the Swede is particularly well suited to Postecoglou’s demands, with 90min reporting earlier in the summer that the ex-Celtic boss was not overly convinced by the wing wizard.
As per respected insider Premier League Panel, playing on the right simply “doesn’t maximise Kulusevski’s ball-striking,large space ball-carrying,ability to turn with pressure on his back & weighting of [through] balls”, hence why a role in the midfield ranks could be a better solution.
With regard to Johnson, the 6 foot 1 superstar – whose potential has been described as “quite scary” by international colleague Aaron Ramsey – will no doubt be keen to hit the ground running in his new surroundings, with there perhaps no better time for Postecoglou to start the bedding in procees than today.
