Walsall have confirmed the signing of Danny Johnson, with the former Mansfield Town man penning a two-year contract at Poundland Bescot Stadium.Of course, 30-year-old Johnson is no stranger to the Saddlers faithful as he spent a superb six-month spell in WS1 last season, scoring fifteen goals across thirty first-team appearances before returning to his parent club.
Danny joined the Stags from Leyton Orient in the summer of 2021 and netted seven goals across twenty-six first-team appearances before falling out of favour at Field Mill.
The Middlesbrough-born strike arrived in Mansfield on the back of a twenty-goal 2020/21 season for the O's, a season which included a run of five goals in the first five games of the season.
Johnson began his career as a youngster with his hometown club before moving into the youth system at Hartlepool United and, following spells with Harrogate Town and Billingham Synthonia, he would hit the headlines at Guisborough Town.
Scoring an incredible fifty-nine goals in fifty-five all-competition games, Danny's 2013/14 campaign saw him collect the manager's Player of the Year award, the Northern Football League’s Player of the Year award, and BBC Newcastle’s Player of the Year award.
Earning himself a move to Championship side Cardiff City, Danny did well for the Bluebird's under-21 squad before sealing a switch to Gateshead where he would go on to score fifty-two more goals over his three years with the Tynesiders.
Spells in Scotland with Motherwell and Dundee preceded his switch to East London's O's, where he would continue to score at a great rate of knots as he secured twenty goals in forty-eight appearances before moving to Mansfield.
After returning to his parent club for the second half of last season, Johnson struggled for regular football, making just eight appearances, scoring one goal.
Walsall Head Coach Mat Sadler has welcomed the news of Danny's arrival, with the former defender admitting he is excited to welcome Johnson back into the squad.
Speaking via the club's official website, Mat said; "I’m absolutely delighted to get Danny over the line. I want to thank the football club and the board because everyone has worked hard to get this done.
"It’s been a priority for a long period of time to secure Danny’s signature and thankfully, it has all come together. We all had the fantastic experience watching him play last season.
"Danny’s hugely motivated to achieve, to score goals – he’s not happy when he scores one goal, he wants to score two. He’s desperate to succeed and I’m after players who are hungry to do well and show everything that they’ve got every single day and Danny falls into that category.
"He’s a fantastic guy, someone I really respect and I’m looking forward to working with him again.
"Danny is also going to embark on an exciting phase in his family life so it’s an honour that he wants to share and experience that while being at our football club and I’m delighted we’ll be able to share that with him too.
"He’s a fantastic guy, someone I really respect and I’m looking forward to working with him again. We have a number of targets that we are continuing conversations with as potential signings across all lines, as we look to strengthen what we already have in the building."