Nottingham Forest fans have lauded Elliot Anderson as the ‘Geordie Maradona’ ever since his shock transfer from Newcastle United, but they had no clue he would become one of the most sought after players in the Premier League.
Anderson’s controversial switch two years agao was one of several transactions between the two clubs as each aimed to comply with financial regulations, yet nobody anticipated the monumental impact it would have. The prodigious talent didn’t take long to shine through, and it’s still remarkable how rapidly Anderson has ascended.
Less than a year after representing England in the U21 Euros, the young star is already considered a shoo-in for Thomas Tuchel’s starting line-up at this summer’s World Cup, while only two of his team-mates from last year’s tournament have made the senior squad. And his form has attracted the interest of both Manchester United and their bitter rivals Manchester City.
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The fact that all of this is taken as read demonstrates what an extraordinary footballer Anderson has become in what has been an incredibly challenging year.
Fighting off relegation and reaching a Europa League semi-final under four different managers is more unusual than most footballers will ever experience in their careers, and even these feats fade into insignificance when compared to the heartbreaking loss of his mother in May.
Despite the challenges, Anderson has remained unflappable throughout a year in which he’s played in various positions and emerged as one of the Premier League’s standout performers.
City are the frontrunners to secure his signature this summer, but the transfer fee is expected to be one of the highest ever seen in the top flight, and they will face tough competition from local rivals United, reports the Manchester Evening News.
United, however, are said to be confident they can beat their local rivals to his signature. “I think he’s improved in a lot of different ways,” shared Matt Davies, presenter of the Forest Focus podcast. “If you go back to the start of the season, we’ve had so much turmoil with managers, but he was playing a deeper role under Nuno [Espirito Santo].
“Ange Postecoglou came in and he was getting him on the ball and dictating play. Then [Sean] Dyche took over and he was just bypassing him and wasting his talent. It was incredibly frustrating.
“But despite all that, Anderson was performing well in terms of winning duels, regaining possession, retaining the ball, handling pressure – all the attributes you’d associate with a City player, I would say he excels at.
“You can pass to him in any situation, he’ll recover it high up the field, he’s courageous, he’s athletic, he doesn’t get pushed off the ball even though he’s not the largest. Physically, he’s extremely good.
“And then [Vitor] Pereira came in, and he’s really thrived in two areas. He’s played him a bit higher and got him to be a bit braver and get into the box more. He scored obviously a really good goal against City from outside the box.
“His creativity came to the fore more and more in the final weeks of the season and he’s taken on more and more attacking responsibility
“The other thing that he’s really taken a big leap on, I would say, probably since getting into the England team, is just his overall leadership and managing in midfield, which is partly why I think he could be the long-term Rodri successor.
“I said this going all the way back to October, November, when he was dominating midfields defensively and in the areas I spoke to.
“But now you watch games and he’s marshalling players, he’s stopping the ball, he’s literally, he’s telling players where to be. There’s a goal we scored against Chelsea away, where he tells Dilane Bakwa to move into an area.
“They play like a wall pass and Anderson knocks it for Gibbs-White into the space that Bakwa vacated, that Anderson had told him to.
“So he’s got that in-game intelligence, that in-game confidence, that in-game leadership. It became his midfield by the end of the season. It was Gibbs-Whites’ team, but Anderson took on more and more responsibility.
“He showed incredible resilience as well with his mother passing, he came back into the team after one game and he was fantastic. He scored a couple of goals and finished the season brilliantly, so I can’t speak highly enough of him.”
Forest are well aware of their asset’s worth, and find themselves in a much stronger bargaining position than they might have been, given how they concluded the campaign.
They are under no obligation to sell, though they have recognised that Anderson could depart for the majority of the season. City are not the only suitors chasing the 23-year-old, with United believed to be their primary rivals.
Forest can point to the £105m that Declan Rice cost Arsenal three years ago as a benchmark for Anderson to establish a new record as the most expensive British player in Premier League history.
The player could simplify matters for City by making his intentions clear to Forest – even without submitting an official transfer request.
James McAtee is among his closest mates in football, and he could seek guidance from John Stones, James Trafford, Nico O’Reilly and Marc Guehi at the World Cup if he requires further insight into what the Etihad can offer him; though the two winners’ medals from this season will have spoken volumes already.
As far as City are concerned, they need to ensure their signings will gel well in the dressing room alongside fitting into the manager’s system. Their scouting department haven’t had to look far to witness how beloved Anderson has become at Forest.
“I think obviously you saw that with what happened with his mother and Neco Williams walking onto the pitch with him and bringing out the wreath,” Davies said.
“Gibbs White did this interview after we’d just beaten Porto in the Europa League – that was the game Elliot missed – and his voice was cracking.
“But you could see even before that how popular he was. Forest fans have been chanting Geordie Maradona since his first season here. Everyone took to him because when he signed we thought we were signing a guy who could play left wing, a bit of number 10, a bit of midfield.
“Initially he was reported as £35m which we thought was steep but then it was a slightly funky PSR deal involving our third choice keeper and we got him for a steal.
“We didn’t know what we were getting so that maybe gave him a good launch pad because he was fantastic from the start playing in this central midfield role, but he’s just growing more and more and I think two years at Forest has given him that maturity and Premier League experience to step up.
“I’m sure he’d benefit from another year at Forest and he’d keep progressing. But I guess there comes a time in a player’s career where it’s very hard to stop the transfer happening and I think it might be now, sadly, when it comes to City.”