Elliot Anderson - More pain for Newcastle United after Nottingham Forest move?

As a football fan there is nothing quite as exciting as a local lad playing in the first team. We identify with them in a more personal way than with signings from elsewhere due to the shared background and the idea that they are living our dreams.

This makes it all the harder to take when these players move on. Andy Carroll's sale to Liverpool in 2011 was a dagger through the hearts of a generation of Newcastle fans who had watched him make the no.9 shirt his own, playing with a passion, strength and aggression that typified the Geordie spirit. Others such as Alan Shearer and even Dan Burn had to go elsewhere as youngsters to learn their trade before returning home later in their careers. Going further back the likes of Peter Beardsley, Chris Waddle and Paul Gascoigne played their best years away from Tyneside. Some like Michael Carrick and Steve Bruce had successful careers but never pulled on the black and white stripes.

Some of these scenarios were down to failings at youth level, while others were a case of mismatched ambition. Almost all involved money in one form or another, which was the main driving factor behind the sad sale of Elliot Anderson in June 2024.

The most depressing consequence of PSR is that it incentivises clubs to sell their homegrown talent so they can book 'pure profit' in the accounts. It was fitting that - on a weekend when Aston Villa and Newcastle fans sang together about the Premier League being corrupt, and Newcastle took advantage of Villa's financial woes by buying Jacob Ramsey - Elliot Anderson gave another outstanding performance for Forest.

The deal which took Anderson to Forest was a PSR workaround - on paper the transfer fee was £35m - not in itself a bad deal for a young player who had made 55 first-team appearances but wasn't guaranteed a starting place. To make the deal happen, however, Newcastle had to buy a goalkeeper they didn't want and would never use for £20m. That amounted to a valuation of £15m for Anderson, which is laughably low considering his worth now a little over 12 months later.

It took a while for Anderson to nail down a position. He started out as a striker in the academy before moving out to the left-wing, where he had a successful loan spell as a 19-year-old at Bristol Rovers. Once Eddie Howe started working with Anderson, he determined the central midfield would be the best role to maximise the attributes of the Whitley Bay born talent.

Anderson was unlucky at Newcastle to be competing with experienced midfielders for minutes. In what should have been his breakthrough season in 2023/24 following an outstanding pre-season, an awfully timed back problem kept him on the sidelines for five months. His lack of gametime didn't put Forest off, who clearly saw his potential.

Howe is usually good at keeping his emotions in check in press conferences, but he couldn't deny the fact that losing Anderson was a massive blow, and he has referenced it numerous times subsequently. If Howe follows Anderson's career with a feeling of sadness about what could have been, this is echoed by the Newcastle fans who watch on with a lot of pride but also enormous regret that he is playing for the wrong club.

Having said that, there can be little doubt that the move to Forest has worked for Anderson. He has had more gametime than he would have had at St James' Park and has been afforded a stage at a famous, traditional old club on an upward trajectory playing in a system that suits him and for a coach that trusts him. His performances made him a key part of England Under-21s' successful Euros campaign and he will surely receive a Senior call up before 2025 is out.

Anderson is developing into an elite all round central midfielder. He can run, he can tackle, he is disciplined and strong. While he perhaps lacks the high-end pace to be a truly top-class winger, he has the technical ability and the skill to become an international midfielder for years to come. His first-time interception through ball to set up Chris Wood for Forest's third goal against Brentford was nothing short of sublime.

Forest will be loath to lose Anderson any time soon and have shown in fighting off Spurs' approach for Morgan Gibbs-White that they will not be bullied into selling their best players. They have European football to look forward to this season and ambitions to keep progressing. There is no indication that any bids for Anderson would be entertained now or in the future, and Forest are under no pressure to sell. He is contracted until June 2029 when he will be 26. If they were looking to sell in the next few years, Anderson's value will have more than doubled from their outlay.

With our black and white glasses on, however, it would feel like a wrong had been righted if circumstances allowed Anderson to return home at some stage, especially as his developed skillset would mean he would now be starting many games. The man himself has been clear that he didn't want to leave, and he demonstrated where his heart lies by attending the Carabao Cup Final as a supporter.

The stars would have to align perfectly for Anderson to return to Tyneside, but if he was never to play for his boyhood club again, it would be another case of what might have been...