Elliot Anderson is hours away from starting England's World Cup opener against Croatia, but his club future remains anything but settled after Nottingham Forest rejected a second bid worth £122m from Manchester City.
The offer, worth a guaranteed £106m plus £16m in add-ons, would have broken City's own club record of £100m paid for Jack Grealish in 2021. But Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis is holding out for a British record fee of £125m – the same basic fee Liverpool paid Newcastle for Alexander Isak last summer.
“Forest reject Manchester City's £122m bid for Anderson; want £125m British record fee.”
The 23-year-old has come a long way since helping Bristol Rovers win promotion from League Two four years ago. Now a key man for England boss Thomas Tuchel – who is expected to name him alongside Declan Rice in midfield against Croatia on Wednesday – Anderson finds himself at the centre of a high-stakes transfer tug-of-war.
City's director of football, Hugo Viana, timed the second bid to avoid disrupting Anderson's World Cup preparations, eight days before the match. With that offer now rejected, he may return with a third – and possibly final – offer by the end of the week.
Manchester United, who have Anderson on their shortlist, remain in the race despite the player's preference being a move to City. United have yet to make a bid, but their continued interest could drive up the fee City must pay. The Red Devils have previously been linked with Declan Rice and Moises Caicedo but never made an offer – Rice joined Arsenal for £105m, Caicedo went to Chelsea for £115m.
Tuchel has said he will not stand in the way of any transfer if it is handled quietly and efficiently. "If anyone has the chance to complete a change of club and a transfer, we will not stand in the way," the England boss said. "The best we can have is clarity."
Anderson has won eight caps this season, just three years after being called up by Scotland. He helped England win the European Under-21 Championship last summer, scoring the injury-time penalty that beat Spain in the quarter-finals, and has been a consistent presence for Forest despite playing under four managers in a successful relegation battle.
As the World Cup looms, Anderson's immediate focus is on Croatia. But behind the scenes, City are expected to decide whether to raise their offer again – and whether Forest will finally accept a deal that could make Anderson the most expensive British footballer in history.