Elliot Anderson has been an outstanding signing for Nottingham Forest, but his move from Newcastle United almost didn’t happen.
Anderson joined Forest from Newcastle during the summer transfer window, with the deal always appearing to be a must-sell for the Magpies given their PSR position.
This was demonstrated recently when Anderson confessed that he did not expect to leave Newcastle after establishing himself in the first squad, but Evangelos Marinakis saw a chance and seized it.
Since his arrival, Anderson has not looked back, establishing himself as an undroppable member of the Forest side having appeared in all 25 Premier League games this season, scoring once and giving five assists as well.
Dion Dublin believes Anderson deserves an England call-up for how easily he has acclimated to life at the City Ground which is hard to argue with, especially when learning about how difficult the deal-making process was for the two teams involved.
The move of Elliot Anderson to Nottingham Forest almost failed.
Anderson was immediately struck by Nuno Espirito Santo’s composure, but the negotiations between Newcastle and Forest were anything but peaceful, with the transfer needing to be completed before the June deadline for PSR calculations.
According to a fresh story from The Athletic, Anderson was close to staying at St James Park as difficulties with the transaction remained with only hours till the deadline.
The article stated: “Minutes before the deadline, there was a real danger that the deal would fail.
‘Conversations were undertaken at the ownership level to expedite the process, with Jamie Reuben and Evangelos Marinakis in talks with Newcastle CEO Darren Eales and Anderson’s agent, David Manasseh.
“Newcastle initially wanted [Anthony] Elanga to move the other way as part of the deal, but Forest were hesitant to sell — a choice vindicated by the winger’s great season — and the two sides couldn’t agree on a sum. Instead, Newcastle had to settle for [Odysseas] Vlachodimos, having shown significantly less interest in the goalkeeper.
Newcastle were interested in Elanga throughout the window, so keeping him was already a victory for Marinakis. However, convincing Newcastle to choose Vlachodimos instead to keep the Anderson deal alive was a masterstroke on the part of the Forest owner.
Clearly, the Magpies missed out on a fantastic midfielder in Anderson, so the transaction was already poor, but watching how Vlachodimos has performed at St James’ Park makes the decision much more difficult for Newcastle fans to accept.
Odysseas Vlachodimos has battled with Newcastle United.
Vlachodimos had never earned a starting berth at Forest, thus trading him for Anderson made excellent sense for one side of the negotiation table, given the circumstances.
There were even rumors in August that Vlachodimos may leave Newcastle on loan, but while that never happened, the statistics make for sobering reading given that Newcastle paid £20 million for him.
The Greek international has only appeared once for Newcastle, in a Carabao Cup match against AFC Wimbledon, which was made possible by Martin Dubravka’s injury.
Newcastle media gave Vlachodimos a 6/10 against Wimbledon, indicating that his debut performance was at least consistent, but it did not persuade Eddie Howe of his ability to dethrone either Dubravka or Nick Pope.
Dubravka was expected to depart Tyneside, but he instead signed a new contract with the club, further alienating Vlachodimos from the possibility to start.
Forest travel to Newcastle on Sunday in what will be a homecoming for Anderson, but don’t expect to see the guy that Forest sent the other way participate in any capacity.
