Our 700+ day wait for a major first-team signing is over. Anthony Elanga has signed for Newcastle United.
A £52m fee that could rise to £55m and a five-year deal, with the Swede landing on Tyneside, immediately joining our pre-season training camp in Austria and featuring in the second half at Celtic on Saturday.
Eddie Howe, at last, has a new right winger. Miguel Almiron’s replacement and some much-needed support for Jacob Murphy; who was outstanding last season but requires more help.
We’re adamant Elanga is a superb fit for Howe’s Newcastle, both on and off the field, and have detailed below 10 key reasons why we see this as a brilliant signing.
1. Electric pace and athleticism
In a recent post shared on his Instagram, Elanga was filmed running 100m in just 10.93 seconds, clocking a max speed of 39.75 km/h. To put that into context, the fasted speed in the Premier League last season came in at 37.38 km/h from Spurs’ Mick Van de Ven.
But how does Elanga use this burst of speed and explosiveness? His pace can be..
- Destructive on the counter attack, as the goal (see below) shows his ability to carry the ball at pace over long distances, which could be huge in certain Champions League away days where we’ll see less of the ball.
- Dangerous when making darting runs in behind, which I’m sure quality passers Bruno Guimaraes and Sandro Tonali will love. This was a feature last season, as several of his goals came from him coming off the line and behind opposition defences.
- Help him beat his man against set defences, with the burst of pace key to getting that yard of space against low blocks, whether it’s cutting in on his left to shoot or making room for a cross on his right.
- Used to add to our press or cut off passing lanes, with speed (see Gordon and Isak) only making defenders or goalkeepers panic more than closed down.
Elanga’s pressing stats at Forest are nothing to write home about, but I’m sure Howe will have plans to improve this area of his game, knowing he has a fit, athletic, incredibly quick and willing learner to work with.
Next season, we will almost certainly have one of THE quickest font threes in Europe, spearheaded by Alexander Isak with two electric Anthony’s either side.
Anthony Elanga running at the gallowgate end next season! 🔥#NUFC pic.twitter.com/STaVlytvnl
— Will (@NUFCWill1892) July 7, 2025
2. Premier League proven and early advantages
This idea that Eddie Howe doesn’t like to buy from abroad confuses me when you consider some of our biggest and best deals have come from La Liga, (Isak), Ligue 1 (Bruno and Botman) and Serie A (Tonali), but there is no doubt that a Premier League proven talent offers a lower-risk investment with early advantages.
The lower risk element refers to what we’ve just seen Elanga do in this very league, where he delivered a career best 18 goal involvements at Nottingham Forest and and assist tally (11) that was only bettered by Jacob Murphy (12) and Mo Salah (18).
You could argue that, in a Newcastle side that see more of the ball, score more goals and have better players than Forest, Elanga could take his output to the next level, especially with Howe’s coaching, Bruno’s creativity and Swedish teammate Alexander Isak all alongside him.
As for the ‘early advantages’ you gain from a player who arrives with Premier League experience, Elanga won’t need that added time to adapt or settle that most overseas arrivals require. He’s lived in England since he was 11, he’s played 113 games at this level and he’s already supremely fit, which we’ll touch on later.
3. He’s VERY two-footed
In an interview with the BBC last season (which you can watch below), Elanga revealed that he spent eight months of lockdown working on his left foot, and it’s clearly paying dividends.
This isn’t just impressive because, five years later he is now comfortable with both feet (as the stats prove), but it shows his determination to improve and strong work ethic; all things that make him perfect for a manager like Eddie Howe.
Since 2021/22 (his first full season with Man Utd), 55.1% of Elanga’s shots have come from his right foot and 36.4% with his left. Opta reveal that this gap of 16.7% between shots on each foot is the fifth smallest, with only four players having more of an equal split of left and right footed shots in that time.
Not only does this two-footed trait help the quality and volume of efforts off both feet, it adds massively to his unpredictability when trying to beat his man, get a shot off or work space for a cross, either in space or against a low block.
These two goals below in Forest’s win at Ipswich last season are a nice example. The first shows him cut in from the right and finish brilliantly with a cultured footed strike, while the second shows no hesitation to shift the ball to his right foot and finish calmly after using his pace to burst in behind:
Love these two goals from Elanga at Ipswich last season.
🎯 First one is a superb finish & brilliant technique after cutting in on his left.
🧠 Second shows quick thinking & pace in behind to latch onto loose ball & finish with his right.#NUFC
— NUFCBlog.co.uk (@NUFCblogcouk) July 11, 2025
4. Versatility
It’s no secret that Eddie Howe LOVES a versatile player, which can be seen with Joelinton’s ability to play LCM or LW, Anthony Gordon’s coverage of the entire front line, Sandro Tonali and Bruno Guimaraes’ flexibility to switch from No. 6 to No. 8 roles and Tino Livramento’s equally impressive displays at right and left-back.
Elanga’s ability with both feet boosts his potential to play down both flanks, but he is effective in both roles, as Forest fans will tell you.
But he can also play in central roles, especially if setting up to play on the counter. While 63 of his career appearances have come down the right and 55 down the left, he has played as a central forward on 39 occasions.
Should Gordon and Barnes be unavailable at any stage next season, he can easily play down the left. At a push, we could also see him play centrally when needed,
This graphic from Transfermarkt show all the positions he has covered in his career, highlighting his flexibility:
5. The tools to improve; on and off the ball
Elanga seems highly motivated, humble and a hard worker, but he’s still only 23 and arrives at a club where current boss Eddie Howe has developed a knack of improving players; on and off the ball.
Just look at what he’s done with Murphy’s output – offensively and defensively – along with Gordon’s numbers and Harvey Barnes’ fitness levels. The former didn’t arrive with great numbers at Everton, yet delivered 28 goal involvements the season before last, while Barnes now looks far more capable of matching the defensive work and pressing Howe demands than when he first arrived from Leicester.
As mentioned earlier, Elanga’s current defensive stats aren’t particularly impressive when it comes to pressing, interceptions or tackles, but just look at these sprinting stats between Gordon and Elanga:
Last season, no one spent a higher proportion of their Premier League minutes sprinting than Gordon and Elanga.
Elanga has plenty to work on in terms of cutting off passing lanes, protecting his full-back and learning the triggers and traps we set up to press opponents, but his sheer pace, willingness to learn and ability to sprint regularly in games will give Howe hope that he’ll soon be a valuable asset; in and out of possession.
His willingness to learn and improve was also very clear in his first official interview for the club:
“I feel like he (Howe)can improve each and every single area of my game. I’ve still got loads of improvements to do, and I’m young still. I’m striving for more, for myself, always that extra percent, and I feel like he’s gonna help me a lot.”
“Every coach and staff member here will help me a lot. Even the nutritionist, I could go through each and every one of them – they will all help me get better. And that’s the mentality I’ve got. I always want to improve, I always want to become the best version of myself every day.
“I think when I get asked a question ‘What’s my best game, what’s my best assist, what’s my best goal?’ I always say it’s gonna be the next one, because that’s the kind of player I am.”
“Coming here is the right step and it’s the perfect time for my career to elevate even more – having a manager like Eddie to work under will be amazing.”
6. Incredible durability and injury record
Perhaps the most underrated part of Elanga’s game is his injury record and consistent availability, which is extremely rare for a player with his explosive pace.
Not to curse it, but his ‘injury history’ section on Transfermarkt shows not ONE entry. That is remarkable considering how often he sprints, as mentioned above, and how often he plays.
In the last two Premier League seasons, he’s missed just TWO games. In that time, Joelinton has missed 27, with Barnes failing to feature in 22.
Elanga has played 82 games in all competitions over the last two seasons, which says a lot about his durability, fitness levels and potential to be a consistent option for Howe to utilise.
This is huge to help him come with Howe’s high-intensity demands in training and in games, but shows he is more than capable of coping as we bid to compete on four fronts next season, where the Premier League, Champions League, Carabao Cup and FA Cup could see us play 50-60 games over 2025/26.
7. Intense trainer: tailormade for Toon?
This point is clearly a big part of the reason he barely misses games and you can see how hard he works off the pitch, whether it’s the intensity of his training videos documented online or the superb shape he’s got himself into, adding muscle to his skinny frame when a youngster at Man Utd.
Elanga’s pace, power, injury record and explosiveness prove that he is a superb trainer who not only looks after his body, but constantly strives to improve.
Not only are his gym videos incredibly impressive (see below), it sums up his approach to fitness and conditioning that he was doing one to one sessions in Portugal with a personal trainer the day Newcastle agreed a fee and flew him in for a medical.
Elanga is some athlete.
His strength and conditioning – in addition to his natural pace – makes him absolutely explosive.
His injury record is also excellent.
He’s hardly missed a game for Forest in his 2 years there.
🇸🇪 💪 🔥 🔥 🔥 #NUFC
pic.twitter.com/0ub5Vwov4v— 𝗠𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗧𝘆𝗻𝗲 #NUFC (@ToonMouthTyne) July 4, 2025
8. A great character added to the group
Elanga’s first interview was incredibly impressive, highlighting his intelligence, excitement to be here and determination to improve under Eddie Howe.
I also saw an interview with Dion Dublin for the BBC last season (watch below) which shows another side to the likeable Elanga, who talks about his move to England as a young boy and hard work to reach where he is today, with one example being eight months of non-stop work during COVID to improve his weak foot!
Howe is very specific when it comes to the characters he allows into his Newcastle dressing room and we’re convinced a great one has arrived in Elanga, who can help replace two big misses in Callum Wilson and Sean Longstaff.
9. The Isak link and added benefits
Elanga knows Alexander Isak well both on and off the pitch, which can do no harm on a few fronts.
His arrival won’t make Isak sign a new deal, but it all helps, and gives the pair a stronger chance of linking up effectively in game given they have already played a lot of minutes together at international level.
Considering Jacob Murphy’s superb link up with Isak and the number of occasions he’d assist the Swede last season, Elanga’s prior knowledge and pre-existing partnership with Isak will only grow now the pair are club teammates.
Discussing Isak in his first big interview at Newcastle, Elanga said:
“He (Isak) someone I know really well on and off the pitch. Obviously I had the opportunity to play with him at international level.
“I think getting to play at a club level will make things a lot better, we’ll be able to improve our connection even more.”
10. Osula not the only connection!
Last but not least, it’s already clear that Elanga has several strong connections at Newcastle, with close friend Will Osula not the only Mag he knows well.
Once again, this will only help him settle on and off the pitch, with Elanga revealing that he already has prior connections to Botman, Livramento and Gordon, not just old friend Osula and fellow Swedes Isak and Krafth.
“It’s exciting, not just with Alex – I’ve spoken to Alex and Emil a lot – but all round the team. I trained with Sven last year in Portugal, and I’ve spoken to Ant (Gordon).
“I also played with Tino in an England under-14s camp, so I’ve known Tino for a long time.
“Osula’s like my little brother. I’ve known him for a long time. When I was Man Utd, he came on trial when he was 12. He’s not changed! He’s still the same Will Osula that everyone knows. He’s told me amazing things about the club.
“If you know people already, it makes the working situation easier and being able to speak different languages helps me communicate with players too.”
Newcastle need more signings and added momentum ahead of the 2025/26 season, but Elanga’s arrival is a strong start that we must build on.
A great character, incredible athlete and exciting Premier League talent with the potential to take his game to the next level under Eddie Howe.
Elanga is an excellent addition imo – him Isak & Gordon will destroy teams imo.
But Wissa is such a straightforward signing for me. The lad scored 19 goals last season – no pens – only Salah bettered him.
We’ve offered £30m they want £40m – easy!! We paid £35m with add ons of £5m if he totals a combined 25 goals and assists 🤷🏼♂️.
Then a GK and CB and off we go.
Sharpy17(Quote)
So Isak isn’t on the plane to the Asia tour 🤔.
I don’t care if he’s not fit to play all or any of the games. This is time to be with teammates!!
He’s not stopping back to work with physios and coaches coz they’ll all be on the plane too.
Aside from the playing side, one of the reasons we go all the way to Asia is to raise the profile of our club. Fans out there will be spending money to come and see their favourite players – maybe get a photo or autograph on a shirt or whatever.
Him staying at home tells me one thing – he wants out and nobody can convince me otherwise.
Sharpy17(Quote)
I knew he wouldn’t be on that plane, needs to man up and hand in a transfer request. Sick of it all now, him included .If this drags on until the end of the window I will be fuming because he and all the gossip are doing so much damage to us right now and will potentially impact our signings coming in.
kimtoon(Quote)
Kim – what worries me is all this WILL be affecting Howe too & theres only so much BS the man will take!!.
He’s proven himself to be one of the best managers in the league – there isn’t a player I’d want to keep ahead of him!!. I think he’s that important to what we are doing.
I agree, if Isak wants out then come out and say it!!. We can’t offer huge wages like other clubs.
We pay him £250k a week when he has 3 years remaining on this contract – what stops Bruno, Gordon, Tonali, Botman, Tino etc coming and saying I want another £50-100k on my contract 🤷🏼♂️ – simply put we can’t afford that.
We won’t be able to afford it next summer either so rather than run a contract down, get top whack for him now!!.
There’s not many £68m signings you can double your money on so £130m plus and I’d do business.
Take £120m plus Harvey Elliott off Liverpool for me.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Trouble with ISAK is that if he asks for a transfer, he loses a lot of money. If we want to sell him then we’ll have to pay off a portion, normally 25-50% of his contract. So it’s only if we get a massive bid and then come to a mutual agreement that we can avoid this. It may well cost us £5-£10m to encourage him to go.
PremAndUp(Quote)
That’s even worse ffs
kimtoon(Quote)
And now this !
https://x.com/Magpie24_7/status/1948310914459140141
kimtoon(Quote)
Apparently now Isak wants to be away! He want £300k a week. He has 3 years on his contrAct so we are in a strong position. I’d hate him to go to Arsenal, Chelsea or Liverpool, but not much we can do if a big offer comes in. I’d rather, if he goes, that he goes to Barca, Madrid or Saudi for example.
No point keeping him if his head is turned. He was sh.ite for at least the last 3 months of last season too.
Gilly Toon(Quote)
I think I’ve seen enough clickbait for the duration. I’ll come back in August.
PremAndUp(Quote)
So according to SSN he either hasn’t travelled coz he has a ‘minor’ thigh injury and/or wants to explore his options.
If his thigh injury is minor he should be travelling with the squad imo – team bonding and a show of commitment to the club – plus a chance for our Asia fans to see him up close.
The fact he hasn’t means he’s definitely exploring his options & that shows a total lack of commitment and professionalism imo – he has a 3 year deal still in place!!
I’d obviously prefer he left the PL but the way I feel about this news today is as long as we get £130m plus for him – whether that is all cash or made up of cash and player exchange – as long as they are a decent player then I’m game.
I can’t be bothered with this dragging out the whole window.
Clearly something is going on and as per usual the club don’t communicate a thing – I imagine Downie is more in the know than us as to report this stuff based entirely on rumour would put them in a very awkward position 🤷🏼♂️.
Sharpy17(Quote)
I’m with you Sharpy, in fact I will pop my head above the parapet and I say I want him gone now and I don’t care where to either.
kimtoon(Quote)
Kim – the greed in football seriously sickens me. He’s getting £120k a week as it is – which was perfectly acceptable when he signed it 2 years ago!!.
If the club have/do make him an improvement offer, I feel pretty confident it would be to make him our highest paid player (Bruno currently highest on the£160k) whilst keeping it sensible to our wage structure.
I’m totally speculating but let’s say we offer him £200k pw with bonuses – if that’s not enough for him then WTF?!?!!!.
I’d take £120m from Liverpool with Harvey Elliott (value of around £40m). Elliott would be good to have in the squad with Murphy in his 30s (could even consider selling him while his stock is high).
With the £120m we could buy Sesko and Wissa – I don’t think that’s a weak set of forwards by any stretch.
We’d still need that GK and CB but 🤷🏼♂️.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Communication from the club is shocking. Almost as bad as it was under the Fat man. I don’t think we’ve been any good since Mandy left.
Gilly Toon(Quote)
Agree Sharpy, it just needs putting to bed now.
kimtoon(Quote)
Clubs a laughing stock with other fans at the moment, this cannot be what the owners wanted surely .
It’s Howe I feel sorry for , he must feel so let down by club and Isak right now.
kimtoon(Quote)
I’m with you Kimtoon as I said in my last post its been obvious he has been unhappy for some time. If chasing the money floats his boat well and good do it, but there is always a right way and a wrong way of doing things. Leaving it this late! not having the decency to state he feelings causing damage and ill feeling throughout the cub and its supporters!
Go or stay the damage is done better he goes, his heart is not with Newcastle United team or fans. Hope we do not waste time with him and move quickly to replace him.
Sad but lets move quickly on!
nutmag(Quote)
Bet Elanga is not happy about this carry on,one of the reasons he came here
Icedog(Quote)
I should think a lot of the team feel unhappy mate, they get a hard earned chance to compete in the CL with one of the finest forwards in the PL only for him to want out and no big name in to replace him as yet. They must feel gutted if not betrayed.
kimtoon(Quote)
https://x.com/ToonMouthTyne/status/1948083162245918903/photo/2
kimtoon(Quote)
It’s almost as if the septic six have got together and decided to destroy our team and our ability to sign new players.
Gilly Toon(Quote)
Well that pretty much was already attempted post takeover with the new rules .
We may not ever win the league or compete with the legacy clubs in reality but if we can be strong enough to get CL as often as possible and win a few cups it will put at least a couple of their noses out of joint.
kimtoon(Quote)
Gilly – I get why you say that mate, but I’m the other way. The more I think about it the more I think self sabotage.
According to Downie, Isaks team made it clear to us they saw NUFC as a stepping stone club for their client. They believe that his success would be quicker than we could keep up with – they pretty much told us this would happen.
Downie goes on to say that Isak has not been happy for some time now with regards to pay increases that have not materialised.
These things are as a result of how we dealt with Ashworth wanting out and us eventually replacing him with someone not up to the job.
During the time of Ashworth wanting out we placed him in gardens leave – yes people would have filled in for him, but this is one of the best players in Europe with probably some of the best agents representing him – we needed knowledge & experience dealing with these matters.
Then Mitchell came in and whilst he would have had experience, how competent was he?!.
It was well documented that he worked well on shoestring – highlighting the gems he found at Saints and Spurs. Then further to that how he helped bring Monacos finances back in line – that was his strategy.
So when Isaks team come to discuss a pay increase, Mitchell’s response was – he’s got 3 years left 🤷🏼♂️.
The club have let him go after less than a year so clearly haven’t been impressed either.
But that we STILL haven’t replaced him & Eales – and have all this going on at the club when pre season has started and Howe should be able to just train the players, but finds himself managing this – that’s totally unacceptable.
You may be right that other clubs are jumping on our targets and now picking off our best players – BUT if we had best in class backroom staff to combat that, it might not have been as bad as it has been- and there is nothing any other club could do to stop us getting top CEOs and DoFs.
Sharpy17(Quote)
After the cup final Isak only managed 4 goals in the remaining games of the season – 2 of which were penalties.
His goals last season were huge to our overall success – but that final push for CL places he went missing. I seem to remember him starting the season slow too.
Other players stepped up to get us over the line.
I think Isak is top draw, but I think we are a team that create a lot of chances and I think a Wissa or Sesko or whoever would also get goals in this team 🤷🏼♂️.
No one player is bigger than this team.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Honestly I have enjoyed watching Isak even if he is a misery guts but it won’t break my heart to lose him so long as we replace him.
Now Bruno and big Joe would upset me, without a doubt, not that they are better but they have a real passion for the club, you can see it,feel it. Sometimes the sum of all parts is more important than the individual.
We will go again and move on.
HWTL
kimtoon(Quote)
We are still in the market and looking for new options. But we’ve had success before and we can have success again. I’m more focussed on the players we have here. My job for the club is to try to keep the lads motivated.
“We have to be calm. We have to be patient. We know the directors are working the markets”
Bruno
See this is what I’m talking about.
kimtoon(Quote)
Kim – what a brilliant message from the club captain 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼.
I think Burns comments are brilliant too – both have helped Howe out massively there imo.
Have you seen Bruno has had Burn tattooed on him as well?? 😂😂 love that 🖤🤍
Sharpy17(Quote)
I think most of us on here are on the same page in regards to what’s gone on.
I now believe speed is of the essence and at the heart of it must be Izak’s sale. With the income from that and our present transfer budget this must give us a bigger chance in the market. Most other teams are ahead of us in ‘transfers done’ so less competition.
The quicker Izak goes the better in all respects, hanging about is just bad for everyone
The sooner done the sooner mended!
nutmag(Quote)
Or is it just wishful thinking!
nutmag(Quote)
He’s mad mate, but I bloody love him.
kimtoon(Quote)
Agree mate
kimtoon(Quote)
I’ve just watched Eddies pre match interview and feel for him. As expected it’s all about Isak & I think he was as honest as he possibly could be – but I really got the feeling this is only a matter of time.
My hope is NUFC set a fee and deadline if it’s Liverpool Isak has his heart set on.
If you want him the fee is £140m no negotiation and you have until 4th Aug to agree personal terms with the lad – if they want him that much they will get it done – if they don’t then you can go back to him and say you might want them but they don’t want you that much 🤷🏼♂️.
Sharpy17(Quote)
https://onefootball.com/en/news/david-hopkinson-set-to-be-announced-as-new-newcastle-united-ceo-the-times-41426987
kimtoon(Quote)
When Liverpool refuse to pay as much as £140m – it would be worth reminding Isak that he wasn’t even on Liverpool or Arsenals radar before we took a chance on him 2 years ago – when he only valued himself at £120k a week coz he signed the contract.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Kim – he looks like he’s got a wealth of experience in the sporting world but the way PSR is ingrained in everything, I would prefer someone who has experience & understanding of how the league works already.
Maybe there is an argument for ‘fresh eyes’ as well like 🤷🏼♂️ – and they are big sports franchises on his CV there so could help in the continued growth of the club 🤞🏼
Sharpy17(Quote)
Yeah we’ll have to see how he pans out, looks like the decisions made anyway mate.
kimtoon(Quote)
So it seems we’ve lost Trafford as well. 😡. This transfer window just gets better and better … not
Gilly Toon(Quote)
So now the Wissa deal is off and we are looking at Jackson !
I’m done, this is just sooooooooooooooo bad now.
kimtoon(Quote)
Canny game so far. Ref is **** through.
Gilly Toon(Quote)
Pope is awful. Not impressed at all.
Gilly Toon(Quote)
Ah well, was a work out at least.
kimtoon(Quote)
Oh so close from Kelly
kimtoon(Quote)
So apparently sesko would prefer a Man utd move according to journos out there.
If that’s true we need to walk away now and concentrate on another target.
kimtoon(Quote)
Pens it is then
kimtoon(Quote)
Getinnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnladies
kimtoon(Quote)
⚽🥇🏆Champions
kimtoon(Quote)