Shaun Wright-Phillips has been talking about Elliot Anderson and Newcastle United.
The former Man City player can’t believe that United allowed the lifelong fan to leave St James’ Park.
Shaun Wright-Phillips had been asked who he thought were the most exciting young players in football at the moment, having no hesitation in putting Elliot Anderson top of that list.
Of course, the sale of Anderson wasn’t of Eddie Howe’s or Newcastle United’s choosing.
Instead, they found themselves in the position of needing to improve their PSR position by £50m+ by the end of June 2024, or risk breaking their allowed financial limits.
So in the end it was the £35m agreed from Forest for Elliot Anderson, plus the £33m Brighton agreed to pay for Yankuba Minteh, that allowed Newcastle United to get back on the right side of PSR, as the latest three year period of allowed losses was concluded.
Shaun Wright-Phillips interviewed by sportscasting and asked who are the young players that he’s really excited about in the future?
‘Elliot Anderson at Nottingham Forest is the one player that I’m really excited to watch over the coming years.
I watched him, Gibbs-White was suspended, he played in the game, and he was unbelievable.
I couldn’t believe Newcastle let him go. Of course, they most probably had to, but I mean, he is one player that you should try to keep your hands on and fight for. I think he’s going to be such a special player.
When I watched the game at the weekend against Villa, Anderson looks like he just enjoys going past people or trying to force the issue. I think in today’s football, we’re missing players like him.
A lot of teams have sequences and patterns of play, but he grabs the bull by the horns in many ways and says, ‘I don’t want to pass through, I’m going to get past you.’ He is quite nice to watch. It’s refreshing to see a player take the initiative like that.’