Johnson, who has 45 caps for Wales, told Everton‘s TV channel he “immediately wanted to come and be part” of the club when told of the Toffees’ interest.
“There were a lot of reasons why I was so keen to join – the manager, the players, the direction the team is going in,” he added.
“You can see this is a club that wants to go in the right direction, and I’m a player who wants to go in that direction too, so it feels like a really good match.”
Everton finished 13th in the Premier League last season following a disappointing run of results at the end of the campaign.
However Johnson believes the club will strive to do “everything to get back into European competition”, adding that “Everton has the ambition to win trophies – and I believe we can do it.”
McNeil, meanwhile, joined Everton from Burnley for £20m in July 2022, and has scored 15 goals and provided 19 assists in 128 games in all competitions.
Palace have won the FA Cup, Community Shield and Europa Conference League in the last two seasons, and that is exciting McNeil about the move.
“The lads have had some great success over the last two seasons. It’s something that I want to be a part of, so I’m really looking forward to getting started,” he said.
Palace chairman Steve Parish said McNeil is “a player with proven ability in the Premier League”.
Everton and Palace face each at Hill Dickinson Stadium on 22 August – the opening weekend of the Premier League campaign.
