Manchester City have had an opening bid believed to be in the region of £45m rejected by Nottingham Forest for England midfielder Elliot Anderson, with the European champions preparing an improved offer as Pep Guardiola pushes to rebuild his midfield this summer.
Forest, who finished seventh in the Premier League last season under Nuno Espirito Santo and qualified for the Conference League, value the 23-year-old at closer to £70m and have made clear to City’s recruitment team that Anderson is not for sale at the opening price. The Tricky Trees signed Anderson from Newcastle for £35m in the summer of 2024 as part of the deal that took Odysseas Vlachodimos in the opposite direction, and his stock has risen sharply since.
City’s interest, first explored before Rodri’s return from a season-disrupting cruciate ligament injury, has hardened into formal pursuit following Ilkay Gundogan’s departure and Mateo Kovacic’s struggles for consistency. Guardiola is understood to have identified Anderson as the press-resistant, ball-progressing midfielder required to refresh a team that finished a distant third behind Liverpool and Arsenal last term.
Why City want Anderson
Anderson started 36 Premier League matches for Forest last season, contributing five goals and seven assists while ranking inside the division’s top ten for progressive carries per 90 minutes. His tackle success rate of 71 per cent and his ability to break lines with both pass and dribble have drawn comparisons with a young Gundogan, though Anderson is the more athletic profile.
England manager Thomas Tuchel handed Anderson his senior debut in March’s friendly against Albania, and the Whitley Bay-born midfielder has started each of England’s last four competitive fixtures. Tuchel described him after the recent qualifier in Andorra as “a complete eight – he defends, he carries, he arrives in the box”.
For City, the appeal is both tactical and strategic:
- At 23, Anderson fits the post-Rodri rebuild without disrupting the present – he can play alongside the Spaniard or rotate.
- His homegrown status helps City navigate a squad currently carrying 16 non-homegrown players, two over the Premier League limit before academy promotions.
- City’s analytics department rate him as the highest-ceiling English midfielder under 25 outside their own academy, ahead of Adam Wharton and Kobbie Mainoo.
Forest’s stance and the wider market
Evangelos Marinakis is unlikely to be moved by a single rejected bid. The Forest owner sanctioned the Anderson signing personally and has told sporting director Edu, appointed last summer from Arsenal, that the club will not be a feeder to the established elite. Forest’s improved commercial revenues following Conference League qualification and a new shirt sponsorship deal with Kaiyun mean they are not under financial pressure to sell.
The £70m valuation reflects three benchmarks Forest are using internally: the £67m Liverpool paid Bournemouth for Dominik Szoboszlai’s replacement profile last summer, the £55m Chelsea spent on Carney Chukwuemeka’s permanent successor, and the £100m release clause inserted into Mainoo’s new Manchester United contract. Forest believe Anderson sits in the same bracket, particularly with four years still to run on the contract he signed last September.
City are not alone in tracking him. Liverpool’s recruitment team scouted Anderson eight times last season under Arne Slot’s regime and remain interested under his successor. Real Madrid have made informal enquiries through intermediaries, though their summer focus is on a centre-back. Chelsea retain a watching brief but are prioritising a striker.
What happens next
City are expected to return with a second offer worth around £55m plus £8m in achievable add-ons within the next ten days, before the Premier League’s pre-season schedules complicate negotiations. Anderson himself has not requested to leave and recently spoke warmly of life at the City Ground, but sources close to the player accept that a move to the Etihad would represent a significant career step.
Forest’s response will shape Guardiola’s wider summer. Should Anderson prove unattainable, City have Bayer Leverkusen’s Granit Xhaka and Sporting’s Morten Hjulmand on a shortlist drawn up by director of football Hugo Viana, though neither carries Anderson’s age profile or homegrown advantage.
For Forest, holding firm sends a message to the rest of the Premier League’s top six that the days of Marinakis’s club selling their best players for less than market value are over. Anderson’s situation will be the first real test of that resolve.
Sports journalist and editor at SportsPortal.net. Covers cricket, football, Formula 1, tennis, and basketball with a focus on how global sports connect with Pakistani audiences. Follows the PSL, Pakistan national cricket team, Premier League, and major international tournaments. Has reported on sports for digital audiences since 2021.
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