The Capital club moved for the Benfica winger and tied him up on a four-year deal after taking advantage of a loophole in his contract with the Lisbon giants.
Tavares, 21, has been given the number ten shirt and has big boots to fill given its last occupier was talisman and fans’ favourite Martin Boyle.
But Johnson is eager to see what the dreadlocked wideman can bring to both Hibs and Scottish football.
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"He can be really exciting. It's a really interesting one for me; you never know how foreign players are going to adapt to Scottish football,” Johnson told Sky Sports.
"It’s very unique – the passion of the fans, the weather, the locations, and variations in games and game quality, but you've got a young lad who has been brought up in the Portuguese system, played most of the international age groups.
"On top of that, Benfica are renowned for developing quality technical players, and he's an athlete as well.”
The terms of the deal remain undisclosed but there were other teams eyeing Tavares, whose performances for Benfica B had garnered a lot of attention.
"We had a little bit of a win in terms of the contract scenario, managing to capitalise on it through a bit of information, and he's a player I’ve tracked all the way since my Bristol City days,” Johnson added.
"We're looking forward to seeing if he can light up the league and get the Hibs fans off their seats.”
