Not many local football clubs can claim to have produced the most expensive British footballer of the day. Wallsend Boys, a grassroots team in working-class north Tyneside, are about to do it for a second time. With Elliot Anderson on the brink of a deal with Manchester City worth £116m, eclipsing the fee paid by Arsenal for Declan Rice in 2023, another chapter in the history of the club is about to be written – one familiar to those who remember Alan Shearer's record-breaking £15m move to Newcastle in 1996.
Manchester City have agreed a deal with Nottingham Forest for the 23-year-old England midfielder, who is set to have a medical before completing his move to Etihad Stadium. City sources insist the fee is £116m, a club record, with no bonuses attached, though other sources claim the deal could reach £130m – which would surpass the £125m Liverpool paid Newcastle for Alexander Isak last summer and become a British record. Forest had rejected two previous offers from City before the third bid succeeded.
“Elliot Anderson set for £116m Manchester City move, becoming most expensive British footballer and Wallsend's second record transfer.”
Anderson joined Forest for £35m from Newcastle in 2024 and made 88 appearances for the club, scoring four goals. He helped Forest finish seventh in the Premier League in 2024-25 and then 16th last season, when they also reached the Europa League semi-finals. His influence grew during the 2025-26 season: he had the most touches in the Premier League (3,300), won possession the most times (306), won the most duels (297) and drew the most fouls (80).
The midfielder is currently preparing for England's final Group L game against Panama at the World Cup on Saturday and told BBC Sport: "It's pretty easy really, I'm just focusing on the present, I'm blocking it all out. I've got a plan and it's to perform for England. I'm putting myself in the best position to cross the line and do that."
Anderson's journey began at Wallsend Boys, a club founded in 1904 by a local shipbuilding company that wanted a "positive, safe" environment that would "keep their apprentices off the street", according to its general manager, John Percival. That focus on the wellbeing of young people has remained for more than 120 years, with activities ranging from martial arts to pilates, and discounted or free meals provided discreetly. The club also supports the women's game, with players moving to top professional sides and playing internationally.
Alan Thompson, another Wallsend graduate who played for Newcastle, Leeds, Aston Villa and Celtic, said: "It wasn't just the football side of it, it was the people who worked at the boys' club and how grounded they made you as a person." The north-east is second only to Greater London as the county to supply players for Thomas Tuchel's World Cup squad, with four raised in Tyne & Wear. Anderson, who joined Newcastle at eight, made 55 appearances before a sale forced by profit and sustainability rules – a move Newcastle manager Eddie Howe called "the most reluctant in my career". Now, as he stands on the verge of a record-breaking transfer, the question lingers: what exactly is in the water in Wallsend?