• Everton and Palace complete McNeil-Johnson swap

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Johnson has operated in various roles during his career, including on the wing, at wing-back and as a striker.

But Trundle, an Everton fan, feels Moyes could deploy the former Tottenham Hotspur, Lincoln City and Nottingham Forest man as a number nine given the inconsistency of current first-choice duo Beto and Thierno Barry.

“If you look at Everton, they create a lot of chances, they just don’t take the chances,” mentioned Trundle.

“I think if he’s in those positions to get those chances, he takes more of them.”

He added: “He will go in behind, he’ll score goals himself and create himself as well.”

Johnson was part of the Forest side who gained promotion from the Championship under Welshman Steve Cooper in 2021-22.

He won the Europa League during his time at Spurs – scoring the winner against Manchester United in the final – and lifted the Conference League with Crystal Palace last season.

Despite Everton’s 31-year trophy drought, ex-Wales striker Nathan Blake feels Johnson – who joined Palace in a then club-record deal in January – will have to hit the ground running at Hill Dickinson Stadium.

“Everton fans are demanding,” he mentioned.

“Whether you like it or not, it doesn’t matter if you haven’t won a trophy for a long time, that’s a big club. I think there’ll be more demand on him there.

“Having Moyes and [assistant manager Billy] McKinlay could be a good thing, but if he doesn’t produce in the first 10 to 15 games, it catches up with you.

“The coaching and the experience of Moyes and his backroom staff, they’ll coach him to improve.”

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Having been close to joining Palace in January, McNeil has signed a four-year deal with the Eagles.

The 26-year-old scored 15 goals and registered 19 assists in 128 games across all competitions during his four-year spell with the Toffees.

But Trundle feels the time was right for the “inconsistent” former Burnley winger to depart Everton.

“With McNeil, when he was at Burnley, I used to love him. He used to go past people,” he added.

“He came to Everton, there’s a different expectation. Even though Everton haven’t won anything since 1995, there is an expectancy that you should be doing more from the fans.

“It doesn’t help that you’ve got Liverpool as your neighbours and they’ve had all that success.

“So, for me, I don’t know whether he got lost a bit at times. You could see there was a player in there, but he was inconsistent compared to the way he was at Burnley.”

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