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Nottingham Forest winger Anthony Elanga remains a transfer target for Newcastle United.
Elanga has again emerged as a serious target for Newcastle, who first made their interest known last summer following two rounds of talks.
The Magpies enquired about Elanga as part of the PSR swindle that saw Elliot Anderson move to the City Ground but ended up taking Greek goalkeeper Odysseas Vlachodimos instead. A second approach came on deadline day, though an agreement was never close.
Newcastle have again reached out after Elanga played his part in a memorable campaign for Forest, where they reached the FA Cup semi-final and finished seventh in the Premier League to a spot in next season’s Europa Conference League.
Elanga featured in all 38 of the Reds’ league matches, scoring six times and registering 11 assists, a total bettered only by Mohammed Salah and Jacob Murphy, whom Elanga would provide competition to on Tyneside.
But a transfer won’t come cheap amid suggestions Forest value the Sweden international around £60million.
Nottingham Forest agree double attacking swoop
While speculation surrounds Elanga’s future, Forest are making moves in the transfer market and according to ESPN have reached an agreement with Juventus for Timothy Weah and Samuel Mbangula, with the double swoop now subject to agreeing personal terms.
The pair are currently in America representing Juventus at the Club World Cup. After convincing victories over Al-Ain of the UAE and Moroccan outfit Wydad, Juve have guaranteed their place in the last 16 ahead of their final group match against Manchester City on Tuesday night.
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Weah is versatile, enabling him to play on either wing or at right-back. Meanwhile, Mbangula is predominantly a left winger but can play on the opposite side.
With both players capable of playing in Elanga’s position, it could, in theory, make Forest more open to a sale. But they hold the cards and any potential deal, as mentioned, won’t come cheap.
Anthony Elanga addresses Newcastle United interest
Elanga was quizzed about the recent transfer link earlier this month when on international duty with Sweden.
The former Manchester United man said: There is a lot of talk. I focus on what I can do and my focus today was on the match. In football there are always rumours. The most important thing is that I focus on what I can control.”
Last year, Elanga revealed he spoke to fellow countryman Alexander Isak about Newcastle’s interest.
“Isak talked to me about it (Newcastle’s interest),” he said last year. “But I said the same to him as I say to you.
“We have a good relationship and good chemistry when we play together. But I have a contract with Nottingham. The environment in Nottingham is good. It is clear that you can see that Newcastle are interested, it means that I am playing good football when a big club shows interest.
“But Nottingham is also a big club, they have won two Champions Leagues, even though it was before I was born. But I’m happy in Nottingham and have a contract there. I’m focusing on Nottingham and hope to have a good season, then we’ll see what happens.”
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