Manchester City submitted an opening offer for Nottingham Forest midfielder Elliot Anderson that was understood to have been rejected, leaving them still engaged in talks while Manchester United reassess their position. Forest are using Arsenal\u2019s $137.5 million (\u00a3105 million) acquisition of Declan Rice in 2023 as a reference point, and interested parties have been warned they may need to eclipse that figure for Anderson.<\/p>\n
United are known admirers of Anderson and are ready to spend big this summer in pursuit of midfield reinforcements, but there is a belief inside Old Trafford that meeting Forest\u2019s demands over the 23-year-old will ultimately prove poor value for money. United\u2019s hesitance over Anderson is not down to concerns over his ability, but simply the cost of the deal and whether spending so much money on one player is the right course of action at this point in the club\u2019s journey.<\/p>\n
Replacing Casemiro in midfield is a priority, yet United are thought to want two new midfielders, a left back and a striker as they prepare for a return to the Champions League. That requirement means transfer resources will be spread across several positions and helps explain why Anderson has become a less certain target for them.<\/p>\n
City remain in negotiations after the failed opening bid, while United have started to explore alternatives. The club\u2019s search for value is visible in the impending acquisition of Atalanta midfielder \u00c9derson for around $47 million, a move that still leaves room to pursue a higher-tier option alongside him.<\/p>\n
Other names under consideration include Newcastle United\u2019s Sandro Tonali and Crystal Palace\u2019s Adam Wharton, both expected to command significant fees but not believed likely to match Forest\u2019s asking price for Anderson. West Ham United\u2019s Mateus Fernandes carries a $107.5 million price tag, and the Hammers\u2019 relegation from the Premier League has prompted speculation he might be available for less.<\/p>\n
For now, Manchester City\u2019s ongoing contact with Forest and United\u2019s wider squad plans leave City with an edge in the race for Elliot Anderson.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
City lead for Elliot Anderson as United rethink approach amid Forest\u2019s $137.5m benchmark this summer<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14177,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1056,1083,298,969],"tags":[216,983,1162],"class_list":["post-14178","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-man-city","category-man-utd","category-nottingham-forest","category-premier-league","tag-adam-wharton","tag-agents","tag-analytics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14178","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14178"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14178\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14177"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14178"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14178"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14178"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}