Dream Johnston upgrade: West Brom submit surprise offer for £1.1m star

West Bromwich Albion fans will be hoping that the upcoming Championship season is one to remember for the right reasons.

Last season ended up becoming memorable for the wheels coming off at a worryingly quick pace, but with Ryan Mason now at the helm, the Baggies supporters will be praying a positive dawn is on the horizon that results in a triumphant promotion being won.

Mason will have been pleased with aspects of his team last time out in pre-season, as a 1-1 draw was picked up against Dynamo Kyiv.

Away from Austria, West Brom return to their home where they face a test against Blackpool, as more signings are now being looked at this summer to improve his side’s chances of a stunning return to the Premier League, which includes a potential Mikey Johnston upgrade.

West Brom now pursuing move for £1.1m winger

One point of interest this transfer window so far has rested on Johnston’s future at the Hawthorns, with the Irishman having to come to terms with a dream move to Flamengo falling through at the last minute.

The £5m move just didn’t accelerate into motion in the end, leaving Johnston stranded at the Baggies. However, Mason has revealed that the ex-Celtic man is content to stick it out with his Championship employers for the time being after featuring against Kyiv.

Yet, a new development coming out from South Korea might well trouble Johnston’s long-term future, with football journalist Seol Ho-Jung recently revealing that the Baggies have submitted a surprise £1.1m offer for Jeonbuk Hyundai ace Jeon Jin-woo.

Whilst Jeon does predominantly play down the right-hand side, he could ruffle a few feathers on his potential arrival by trying to take over on the left flank from Johnston, having also starred in this position for Jeonbuk.

Further, whilst he is an unknown entity at this point, if he can translate his goalscoring heroics for his South Korean side to the hustle and bustle of the English game, he might even be viewed as an upgrade on his Irish counterpart down the line.

Why Jeon Jin-woo can become a Johnston upgrade

After all, Jeon will be hoping he has a similar entry to Championship life that Johnston once experienced when initially joining the West Brom camp on loan.

Indeed, the gung-ho Baggies number 22 would instantly settle into his new environment as a direct attacking threat, leading to an electric seven second-tier goals being fired home from only 18 appearances during the latter half of the 2023/24 season.

However, his powers would noticeably wane last season as West Brom’s promotion push also took a concerning nosedive, with just three strikes tallied up across a far heftier chunk of 40 appearances.

Therefore, whilst there would have been some disgruntled Baggies supporters when news filtered through that Johnston was moving on to Flamengo, others might well have greeted it as an offer that couldn’t be refused, considering this drop-off in form.

With this whole South American saga hanging over his head, there is also no concrete guarantee that the 26-year-old is a starter under Mason next season, especially when you throw a new exciting figure such as Jeon into the mix.

Amazingly, across Jeonbuk’s last ten K League 1 outings last campaign, the two-time South Korea international would help himself to a blistering six strikes and three assists, with his overall total for the season coming in at a bumper 16 goals and five assists.

Off the back of such an impressive run of form, Mason might well be tempted to push the untested winger into the first team spotlight, over persisting with a wantaway Johnston.

The report linking the Baggies to Jeon even states that Heung-min Son has recommended Mason to have a look at the Jeonbuk ace, as more and more left-field buys are potentially picked up by West Brom to try and be in and around the promotion spots.