"Quite sad" - West Brom claim made over potential Mikey Johnston exit after £5m Flamengo deal collapses | OneFootball

FLW's West Brom fan pundit has had his say on Mikey Johnston's move to Flamengo stalling

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

Mikey Johnston's surprise move to Flamengo is thought to have collapsed, and West Brom may be disappointed that they weren't able to make a profit on the winger.

Johnston's first full season at the club didn't live up to expectations following his blistering loan spell in the latter half of the 2023/24 campaign from Celtic, scoring just three times in 40 Championship games.

So, when a £5 million deal was reportedly agreed with the Brazilian giants, Baggies fans saw this as a great opportunity to make a profit on the £3 million paid to Celtic last summer, and with the club seemingly in need to navigate profit and sustainability rules once again in 2025/26, it would be good to do so without needing to offload any of their key players such as Tom Fellows and Josh Maja.

However, the deal has seemingly hit a halt, with reports in Brazil even saying they have collapsed completely.

West Brom fan pundit reacts to Mikey Johnston, Flamengo transfer saga

So, with profit needing to be generated, and £4.75 million used to sign Aune Heggebø, FLW's West Brom fan pundit, Callum Burgess, has discussed where the Baggies can go from here regarding player sales.

Speaking to Football League World, Burgess said: "Although I would've been quite sad to see Johnston go as I think he does provide a threat outside of goals and assists, I definitely think that a £5 million for a return after we paid £3 million last season is decent as Albion would have made a profit on him.

"So, I do wonder what their next move will be. Obviously with Aune Heggebo still in the pipeline and joining Albion, I think an attacker will be next through the exit door, whether that's the likes of Karlan Grant or Jed Wallace.

"I think those two will both have Championship interest in them, while they've not been hitting the heights of Josh Maja or Tom Fellows have been hitting, they still have got decent pedigree in the last few years in the second tier.

"So, I think they may be players to keep an eye on."

Grant has accumulated over 200 Championship appearances so far in his career, and Jed Wallace is edging towards 350 himself.

Wallace was a bit-part player at West Brom last season, and whilst Grant played the majority of games from the off, the 27-year-old has been left out of plans at The Hawthorns previously, being loaned out to Cardiff during the 2023/24 term, so moves for either could be likely.

However, whilst it seems increasingly likely that Mikey Johnston won't be making the switch to Brazil this summer, the fact that a fee of £5 million was seemingly accepted for the Irishman could see other clubs look to make a move for a similar price.

Burgess said, "Whether or not Johnston still ends up through the exit door remains to be seen, because that might have been a one-off opportunity where Flamengo initially came in and thought that £5m would've been a decent purchase for Mikey Johnston.

"However, this may potentially raise some clubs and make them interested as they know that he would be available for that price. So, I think there may be a little bit of a domino effect that could go on here.