Manchester City have had their second offer worth £120m for Nottingham Forest midfielder Elliot Anderson rejected, as the Premier League champions push to break the British transfer record for an English player.
City's bid of an initial £106m plus add-ons would eclipse the £105m Arsenal paid West Ham for Declan Rice in 2023, but Forest — who bought the 23-year-old from Newcastle for £35m in 2024 — have again turned them down. Anderson's preference is a move to the Etihad Stadium over Manchester United, and personal terms are not an issue. United are effectively out of the running, having not wanted to enter a bidding war and only targeting players eager to join them.
“Manchester City's £120m bid for Elliot Anderson rejected while Manchester United face rising debt costs.”
The rejection comes as Anderson prepares for the World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico. He started England's 3-0 win over Costa Rica on Wednesday, the final friendly before the Three Lions open their campaign against Croatia on 17 June. Anderson was one of Forest's star performers last season as they reached the Europa League semi-finals and avoided relegation despite having four managers. Bernardo Silva's exit at the end of his contract has forced City to bolster their midfield, and Anderson tops their list — though Newcastle's Sandro Tonali is also monitored as a long-term target.
While City chase a record deal, Manchester United have agreed a new $550m (£410m) funding package that will see interest rates on part of their debt jump from 3.79% to 5.36%. The club owed $425m (£317m) in bonds due to mature on 25 June 2027, and after more than 12 months of renegotiation, finance chiefs have settled those bonds and secured additional financial flexibility. United said the money will be used to "prepay the outstanding principal amount of the 2027 notes, together with accrued and unpaid interest" and for "general corporate purposes".
The higher borrowing cost underlines the huge sums involved in financing the club. In its third quarter accounts to 31 March 2026, United confirmed net finance costs of £20.3m for the previous three months and £55.7m for the previous nine months, which was attributed to an "unfavourable swing in foreign exchange rates". Respected football finance blogger Swiss Ramble estimated in September 2025 that United had paid £852m in interest alone since the Glazer family's leveraged buy-out in 2005. The club's total debt stood at £1.29bn at the end of last year, with additional liabilities of more than £500m — the vast majority outstanding transfer fee payments.
United have also extended the repayment term of their secured $225m (£168m) loan, which was due by 6 August 2029, to 10 June 2031. That loan attracts interest of between 1.25% and 1.75% above the Secured Overnight Financing Rate. The deal comes as United officials still need to decide how to fund plans for a new 100,000-capacity stadium, estimated to cost at least £2bn. Sources have spoken optimistically to BBC Sport about reaching an agreement with Freightliner, who own the land United want to build on, this summer — only then can the true scale of the costs emerge.