Manchester City Agrees Record £116m Deal for Elliot Anderson from Nottingham Forest

Manchester City have agreed a deal with Nottingham Forest to sign Elliot Anderson for £116m, a record for a British player.

Forest’s owner, Evangelos Marinakis, had insisted any deal for Anderson would have to eclipse the £125m Liverpool paid to sign Alexander Isak from Newcastle last summer.

The England midfielder is expected to have a medical in the US, where he is on international duty at the World Cup, in the next 24 hours. Anderson has always preferred a move to the Etihad Stadium over signing for Manchester United, who were also interested in the player. City made him a key target this window, previously having two bids rejected for the 23-year-old.

Anderson has spent two seasons at the City Ground after moving from Newcastle for £35m. During his time in Nottingham, he helped the club finish seventh in the Premier League and reach the Europa League semi-finals.

Club form brought him to the attention of the national team and he has become a regular in Thomas Tuchel’s England side since making his debut last September, earning 11 caps. He has started the opening two games of the World Cup against Croatia and Ghana.

Forest are interested in signing Lucas Bergvall as Anderson’s replacement. The Tottenham midfielder wants to leave and talks have already been held over a potential £45m move, although the Sweden international is expected to attract interest from elsewhere.

Anderson has enjoyed an extraordinary rise since breaking into Newcastle’s first team on his return from a fruitful loan at fourth-tier Bristol Rovers in the second half of the 2021-22 season. He scored against his former club in his final Forest match last month, after which the Newcastle manager, Eddie Howe, made it clear his departure rankled.

“We knew that would be a very, very painful transfer, one that we had to do,” Howe said. “We had no choice, but it was probably the most reluctant transfer I’ll ever do, because we knew the quality of the player.”

Newcastle will not benefit from Anderson’s transfer to City as they hastily forced through the sale to satisfy the Premier League’s profitability and sustainability regulations, with Odysseas Vlachodimos moving in the opposite direction as part of the deal between the clubs. At the time Forest valued Anderson at £15m and Vlachodimos at £20m.