Official statement confirms club-record agreement as Newcastle United watch on
Former Newcastle United midfielder Elliot Anderson has agreed to join Manchester City.
Manchester City have confirmed an agreement to sign former Newcastle United midfielder Elliot Anderson from Nottingham Forest.
It’s understood the Citizens will pay a club-record £116million for Anderson, making him the most expensive British player in history. The 23-year-old England international will finalise the move once his participation in the World Cup is over.
“Manchester City and Nottingham Forest have reached an agreement for the transfer of Elliot Anderson,” a Man City statement read.
“Anderson, 23, is currently competing at the FIFA World Cup with England and has completed a medical in Kansas. The formalities of the move will be finalised upon his return to England.
“In the meantime, everyone at Manchester City wishes Elliot and the England squad the very best of luck in their World Cup campaign and we look forward to welcoming him to Manchester in due course.”
The Magpies sold Anderson to Forest for £35million in June 2023, with Greek goalkeeper Odysseas Vlachodimos heading in the opposite direction for £20million.
While viewed as a necessary evil for United in order to comply with PSR and avoid a points deduction, it’s a sale that has no doubt left the club thinking what could have been.
To make matters worse for the Magpies, they weren’t in a position to negotiate any sell-on or buy-back clauses into the deal, meaning they will make nothing despite playing a significant role in Anderson’s development from the age of eight.
“It was something we regretted when we were doing it, and we knew that that would be a very, very painful transfer, one that we had to do, we had no choice,” Newcastle boss Eddie Howe said on the sale of Anderson.
“But it was probably the most reluctant transfer I'll ever do because you knew the quality, we knew the quality of the player, we'd seen him close up for a number of years training with us.
“He was beginning to break into the team at the back end of that season. He was being really effective in a number of different positions. It really hurts to see him do that against us today. He's going to go and have a fantastic career wherever he goes, wherever his career takes him. He's a great lad as well, so it's painful for us to take, but he's an outstanding player.”