'Really happy' - Newcastle United set for midfielder meeting after controversial £35m transfer

Longstaff will come up against his former teammate in the midfield on Sunday afternoon when the Magpies make their second visit of the season to the City Ground. The previous meeting in August saw Eddie Howe’s side advance into the third round of the Carabao Cup on penalties after playing out a 1-1 draw in normal time.

Anderson impressed that night and his versatility has quickly made him an important member of the Forest squad that currently sits third in the Premier League table. He has registered back-to-back assists in wins over Leicester City and West Ham United, while there has also been talk of a potential England call-up.

Watching from afar, Longstaff admitted: “With Elliot, it shows that sometimes you have to go away to show your value and show how good you are. I am really happy for him.

“It will be a tough game, they are playing really well. We have played them already in the cup so we know what to expect next week. It is about putting in a similar performance and ultimately he will want to beat us, and we want to beat him and Forest.

"That is the way games go every week. We are friends off the pitch but on the pitch there can be no friends. We will be trying to beat him as much as he's trying to beat us."

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Newcastle head coach Eddie Howe has publicly admitted he did not want to lose Anderson in the summer but the need to comply with Premier League Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSR) forced a sale, as it did with Yankuba Minteh and his £33million move to Brighton & Hove Albion.

The fee for Anderson was understood to be £35m - a joint club-record sale alongside Andy Carroll’s move to Liverpool in 2011, though United did sign goalkeeper Odysseas Vlachodimos for a sizeable fee in return.

It was Anderson who left but Longstaff, speaking during the club’s pre-season tour of Tokyo, believes every player had their price.

“Yes, it was really disappointing [to see Anderson leave],” Longstaff said at the time,” Elliot was a massive part of our team, on the pitch, off the pitch.

“He was a massive part of it and I think when we saw it, we were in shock. We’re not stupid, we'd seen all the stuff with financial fair play and who was on the table and who wasn't on the table and stuff.

“I think at that point, the way it seemed, I think everyone sort of had their price and yeah, unfortunately for Elliot, the day after it was done, I think we were all in running together and he came in and you just sort of gave him a big hug.

“But hopefully he's going to use it as a positive and yeah, maybe he's not going to be seen as the young lad at Newcastle anymore and he'll get a bit more respect for how good he is and hopefully for him he can kick on and have a really good season, just not against us!”