Where do you start with a player like Brennan Johnson?
Have you ever seen someone with a faster rise? A boy who seemed out of his depth when making his first tip-toes onto the City Ground carpet, but soon became the first man named to enter upon it following one incredible loan?
After making his debut as a fresh-faced 18-year-old at home to West Brom in 2019, few could have predicted the rise that the Welsh prospect was set to go on. Four rather fruitless appearances followed in that campaign, and he was shipped out across the Midlands to join League One side Lincoln City a year later, where he formed a surprisingly devastating young partnership with Man City loanee Morgan Rogers, providing 16 goal contributions, including an 11-minute hat-trick at the hands of MK Dons, as the Imps landed in the playoffs, where they were unsuccessful.
A return to the City Ground followed with Johnson handed the number 20, with many keen to see what the academy boy could offer. Not many, I imagine, would have ever come up with the fairy tale that was to come.
After kick-starting his Forest goal account under the infamous Chris Hughton with a powerful volley away at fierce rivals Derby County, grabbing the club their first point of what was set to be a dismal season, ending likely in banishment to League One, a change in manager and a certain Welsh spark on the wing resulted in Forest completing the most unlikely of promotions possible.
With a partnership like no other down the right flank with Djed Spence, who is now at his new club albeit away on loan at Leeds, the rising star of Brennan Johnson shone ever so brightly as Forest began to creep their way up towards the promised land.
In his first full season at The City Ground as a prominent first-teamer, Johnson provided 16 goals and 10 assists at the early age of just 20 years old, picking up two Young Player of the Month awards and, most notably, the Young Player of the Year award for the Championship.
Whilst everyone in that promotion team played out of their skin in taking The Reds back to where they deserved to be, it was Johnson who led the way with the history of both a famous old club and a formidable family name on his young shoulders. The passion he showed for his team, the ability he showed whenever pulling on its shirt and the same thirst for success that thousands of Forest fans were desperate to secure showed prominently in every touch, every goal and every big moment he had while gracing the pitch in Garibaldi red.
The ascent refused to stop in the second tier, though, as he continued to show his brilliance as the club retained their status in the top flight following a 1-0 home defeat of Arsenal, following a season in which he had found the net eight times and laid goals on for another three.
A player who has stepped up in every season he has played as a professional. From starring in League One to repeating himself in the Championship, and now furthering on from Premier League proof to a move into European competitions at White Hart Lane.
An ode to a rising star
To Nottingham Forest, Johnson is more than just a tricky winger moving on for a rightfully impressive sum. He is the physical embodiment of the journey the club have taken in the last two seasons.
From scrapping away to secure 1-0 wins away from home, to starring in the top flight with numerous massive goals, to firing into the net at vital moments as Nottingham Forest took on a scrap against relegation that many inside the club thought we would not survive. In this remarkable turnaround in the club's fortunes, Johnson has been there and seen it all.
The academy at the club is something to be admired, turning out the likes of Matty Cash, Joe Worrall, Ryan Yates and Ben Brereton Diaz as the years have rolled by. But Johnson can lay claim to being the most impressive of all developments in the Forest scholars.
109 appearances and 29 goals in all competitions later, anyone who looks back at those first nervous touches of an 18-year-old Johnson in a game in which Forest were chasing a point would have been forgiven for thinking there was little to be excited about. But as the club developed, the more the team and staff grew ambitious and the more we began to dream, so did Johnson.
On the books at the club, since he was just eight, he grew from being a mere prospect into the first name on the team sheet most weeks in a remarkably short period. He developed at an immeasurable rate, and every opportunity that has been handed to him has been taken with both hands.
His move to Spurs is necessary for the club and the player. The arrivals of Anthony Elanga and Hudson-Odoi are there to try and fill his gap, and the money has been used to secure the signing of midfield star Ibrahim Sangare. But the memories he has given us in just two and a bit years in red are invaluable.
A goal in each leg of a set of playoffs that we had so often failed to reach. A brace against a fierce relegation rival, a beauty apiece against two others. Johnson may have had one or two showings last year that highlighted his inexperience to the top flight, but when he got going he showed that same remarkable confidence, that same mark of ambition that took him as far as it has.
To us, he is more than a player, but a symbol in our story of success indelibly etched into our memories for years to come. As he rose as part of the club, so too did the club itself, and now he departs a player with the world at his feet and limitless potential hanging above him.
He took us back to the promised land, he went one further in keeping us there against all the odds, and now his departure may fund a second straight survival, and after that? Who knows.
His move will pull on the heartstrings, but we can't thank him enough nor can we be prouder of him. So I hope I am speaking for every Forest fan when I say:
Thank you, Brennan. For everything.
