Nottingham Forest are demanding more than £120m to sell England midfielder Elliott Anderson to Manchester City, who have already had two surprise bids rejected.
Manchester City’s two bids for Elliott Anderson have been rejected (Image: Eddie Keogh – The FA/The FA via Getty Images)
Premier League clubs fear Elliott Anderson’s £130m move to Manchester City will inflate the transfer market. City’s second offer worth a staggering £120m was rejected by Nottingham Forest last week.
Fellow Manchester United fans have already cooled interest due to numbers issues, and Mirror Football understands City are prepared to walk away if the deal becomes too expensive. Forest are demanding an eye-watering package worth £130m, which would surpass the current British record set last summer when Alexander Isak signed for Liverpool.
Anderson, 23, is currently in the United States preparing to start England’s World Cup opener against Croatia on Wednesday. However, there is concern among rivals that he could return to England as a City player later this summer.
The Telegraph reports that Premier League clubs are concerned about the knock-on effect if Anderson joins City in 2024 for a fee greater than the £15m that Forest paid for his former club Newcastle. The midfielder, who is keen on a move to the Etihad, has only eight caps for England and is yet to feature in the Champions League.
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One deal that could be affected is Arsenal’s signing of Morgan Rodgers. Sources believe Aston Villa will increase their asking price for the 23-year-old Rodgers, similar to Forest.
Unlike Anderson, Rodgers scored a hat-trick in the Champions League, won the Europa League with Villa last season and boasts 13 England caps. United and Chelsea are also interested in the playmaker.
Villa do not want to sell Rodgers but could be forced to make a huge sale to avoid further breaches of UEFA’s financial regulations. Morgan Gibbs-White, Anderson’s teammate at Forest University, is another star to watch this summer.
Is Elliot Anderson worth £130m? Let us know your price in the comments.
Nottingham Forest want record-breaking transfer fee for Elliott Anderson (Image: Eddie Keogh – The FA/The FA via Getty Images)
Meanwhile, Chelsea’s Enzo Fernandes is considering leaving the club. Chelsea placed a £120m price tag on Fernandes amid growing interest from Real Madrid.
It was the Blues who broke the British transfer record when they signed Fernandes for £106.8 million in January 2023. Since then, Arsenal have paid £105m for Declan Rice, Liverpool £115m for Florian Wirtz and £125m for Isak.
Premier League clubs spent a total of £3.087 billion in last summer’s transfer window. This exceeds the previous record of £2.36 billion set in 2023.
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