Manchester City are reported to be readying a huge push to win the race for Nottingham Forest midfielder Elliot Anderson ahead of Manchester United.
Anderson has gone from relatively unknown during his days at Newcastle United to one of the most coveted young midfielders in Europe. He’s started all 12 Premier League games for Forest this season and appears to be a lock to represent England in the 2026 World Cup.
United were recently said to be one of the biggest players in Anderson’s market. Now, it appears their crosstown rivals have enter the race to acquire the coveted midfield anchor.
According to the Daily Mail, Pep Guardiola’s side are set to make Anderson one of their priority signings for the 2026–27 season. Man City scouts have even been in attendance at Forest games this term to better assess the 23-year-old midfielder.
With Liverpool and Newcastle also said to have an interest, a bidding war appears to be brewing and the prevailing thought is that it’ll take somewhere in the region of £100 million ($132.3 million) to poach Anderson away from The City Ground.
Elliot Anderson Could Complete Man City’s Midfield Rebuild
It almost seems inevitable that City will dip their toes into the central midfielder market come next summer and Anderson could be viewed as a dream successor to Rodri in the heart of midfield.
The Spaniard has struggled for fitness ever since an ACL tear ended his 2024–25 season prematurely and it remains to be seen if he’ll be able to rediscover the pre-injury form that helped him collect the 2024 Ballon d’Or.
Nico González has been up-and-down ever since he joined City during the January transfer window, but with both Rodri and Mateo Kovačić constantly sidelined through injury, he’s played the bulk of the minutes this season at the base of midfield.
Anderson can play both as a holding midfielder or as a box-to-box No. 8. City would be signing a versatile midfield profile with sky-high potential given his age. Previously, Adam Wharton had been linked to potential move to Etihad Stadium, but the report suggest Anderson is higher on the club’s list of priorities.
City signed the midfield pair of Rayan Cherki and Tijjani Reijnders over the summer. There seems to be a clear focus on injecting youth to a side that seemed to plateau a season ago after winning six Premier League titles in seven years.
It might take a significant economic effort, but landing Anderson could complete City’s midfield transformation, leaving that position covered for the foreseeable future. Plus, highjacking one of the main targets of their bitter city rivals would make the transfer that much sweeter.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Man City ‘Prepared’ to Approach £100 Million-Rated Man Utd Target.
