Elliot Anderson prefers Manchester City as Forest reject second bid

Elliot Anderson has become the kind of Premier League asset only the richest clubs can chase and the hardest clubs can afford to lose. Nottingham Forest rejected Manchester City’s second proposal for the England midfielder, a verbal offer worth £106m guaranteed and about £120m-plus with add-ons, while holding out for at least £125m up front and a record-breaking total package.

The scale of the numbers tells the story of the market as much as the player. Any agreement at Forest’s valuation would top the British transfer record of £105m that Arsenal paid West Ham United for Declan Rice in July 2023. City’s first bid was also turned down earlier in the week, and the talks have continued with Forest pushing for more cash immediately rather than waiting for performance-related extras.

Anderson’s value is not just financial inflation. The 22-year-old has just completed a season in which he played in all 38 of Forest’s Premier League matches, a rare level of durability for an English midfielder under immediate pressure from Europe’s biggest buyers. He is also with the England squad in the United States for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, after Thomas Tuchel named him in his 26-man group and handed him England’s No 8 shirt. That status, along with his age and Premier League experience, has made him one of the clearest examples of how homegrown talent is now priced as strategic inventory.

Manchester City’s urgency reflects that scarcity. The club want to complete a move before the World Cup because they fear Anderson’s price could rise further during the tournament, when strong performances can push elite buyers into still higher bids. Anderson, for his part, would prefer a move to Manchester City over Manchester United if Forest eventually agree a sale.

Manchester United have so far declined to enter a bidding war, a sign that even the most powerful clubs are recalibrating what counts as a justifiable fee. For Forest, the dispute has become a test of leverage under owner Evangelos Marinakis: whether a club outside the traditional super-rich can force payment for a player who now sits at the centre of England’s next generation and at the peak of transfer inflation’s new normal.