Elliot Anderson was a teenager on loan at Bristol Rovers when his teammates would fight to have him on their side in training five-a-sides, knowing he guaranteed victory. Now the 23-year-old is set to become the most expensive British player in history after Manchester City agreed a club record £116m deal with Nottingham Forest.
City sources insist the fee is £116m with no bonuses, though other sources claim the deal could reach £130m, eclipsing the £125m Liverpool paid for Alexander Isak last summer. Anderson is expected to undergo a medical before completing his move to the Etihad, with personal terms not expected to be an issue after City's third bid finally persuaded Forest to sell.
“Manchester City agree record £116m deal for England midfielder Elliot Anderson; Nottingham Forest target replacements.”
The England midfielder, currently preparing for the World Cup group game against Panama, told BBC Sport he was "focusing on the present" and "blocking it all out". His journey to this landmark deal has been anything but straightforward. Anderson joined Newcastle at age eight and made his debut in 2021, but was sold to Forest for £35m in 2024 – a deal Newcastle manager Eddie Howe called "the most reluctant in my career", forced by fears of breaking profit and sustainability rules.
At Forest, Anderson flourished. This season he started all but one league game, playing 3,334 minutes – effectively five games more than City's most-used midfielder Bernardo Silva. He topped the Premier League for touches (3,300), possession won (306), duels won (297) and fouls drawn (80). His form earned him an England senior debut in September 2025 after switching from Scotland's youth setup.
With Anderson's departure, Forest are now expected to sign two midfielders this summer. They are interested in Tottenham's Lucas Bergvall and Inter Milan's Davide Frattesi. The club have also taken a liking to Ivory Coast World Cup star Christ Inao Oulai, the 20-year-old Trabzonspor midfielder valued at up to £34.5m. Oulai, who helped Trabzonspor win the Turkish Cup last season, said: "My goal is to help the team as much as I can and introduce myself to the whole world." Sunderland and Brentford are also tracking Oulai, but Forest's pursuit is fuelled by the Anderson windfall. No bids have yet been received, but as the World Cup progresses, the race for his signature is expected to intensify.