One of the players Newcastle United have been linked with is Anthony Elanga. The winger is on Eddie Howe’s radar, and the Magpies manager will surely have been impressed with how he played for Nottingham Forest against Aston Villa at the City Ground on Saturday.
Forest got the better of Villa 2-1 at home in the Premier League. The win has enhanced their chances of finishing in the top four this season.
Morgan Gibbs-White was arguably Forest’s best player in the match, but it was Elanga’s goal that proved to be the difference between the two teams.
Linked with a move to Newcastle in the January transfer window, Elanga did not start for Nuno’s side against the Villans. The £15 million (BBC Sport) winger came on as a substitute in the 77th minute.
Elanga was electric during his time on the pitch at the City Ground. The former Manchester United winger set up Chris Wood for his disallowed goal. The 22-year-old Sweden international eventually scored the winner in the third minute of injury time.
According to WhoScored, Elanga had a pass accuracy of 83.3% and took 11 touches of the ball.
The winger has made 10 starts and six substitute appearances in the Premier League for Forest so far this season. He has scored one goal and given two assists in those games.
Elanga found the back of the net five times and gave nine assists in 25 starts and 11 substitute appearances in the Premier League for the Reds in the 2023-24 campaign.
The Athletic reported in October that Newcastle are looking for a right-winger in the January transfer window and have an interest in Elanga.
With Elanga not guaranteed a place in Nuno’s starting line-up at Forest, Newcastle could fancy their chances of tempting him into a move to St. James’ Park next month.