Tottenham Hotspur boss Ange Postecoglou has admitted he did not see summer signing Brennan Johnson playing as much as he has and is backing the attacker to continue to grow.
Spurs paid £47.5m to Nottingham Forest last summer to sign Johnson on a six-year deal.
Johnson has featured heavily for Postecoglou’s team this season, making 22 appearances in the Premier League with a return of three goals and four assists.
Tottenham have suffered a number of injuries throughout the season and Postecoglou admits he did not see Johnson playing as much as he has done.
Postecoglou does not want to put too much pressure on the 22-year-old and is clear that there is scope for growth, backing the attacker to continue to get better; he also stressed Johnson could have scored more goals.
“We brought him for the long-term and I know he’s going to grow a lot more”, Postecoglou said at a press conference.
“He has played more, and certainly started more games than I thought he would.
“But again we have had real issues with injuries during the early part of the year. But he’s tackled every task really well and he’s got a couple of goals.
“People forget he’s been unlucky a couple of times – he’s hit the post here and there.
“But ultimately he knows that the measure for attacking players at any club, especially at the big ones, is output in that final third.
“And I’m glad for him he’s been getting those rewards.”
Johnson finished last season with 13 goal contributions overall for Nottingham Forest; at Tottenham, he still has time left to surpass that.
