· 24 June 2025, 16:30
**This week was said to be when Newcastle United would accelerate their transfer business, and now we're getting reports of a bid having been made.**
Newcastle have a few key positions they wish to acquire bodies for this summer, and one of those is right wing. For a while, it looked as though Bryan Mbeumo would be the first choice for that position, but upon hearing his wage demands, Newcastle backed away and moved on to other targets.
It's now believed that Nottingham Forest winger Anthony Elanga is the first-choice. Newcastle have admired Elanga for a while and made a £50 million bid on deadline day last summer.
A report today has suggested that Forest are close to signing two wingers from Juventus, which we suspected could open the door for Elanga.
> [](https://twitter.com/David_Ornstein/status/1937524905395823096)
Nottingham Forest have rejected Newcastle United's initial bid for Anthony Elanga
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It seems as though Newcastle have spotted that too, and now [David Ornstein of The Athletic has reported that Newcastle have made a £45 million bid](https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6409212/2025/06/24/anthony-elanga-newcastle-transfer/) for Anthony Elanga this morning.
Ornstein states that the bid was rejected immediately with no counter-offer, which emphasises Forest's stance that Elanga is not for sale.
The report says that Newcastle will now have to decide whether to bid again or walk away from the deal and on to the next target.
If this is how we're going to negotiate this summer it's going to be another frustrating off-season
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Honestly, if Newcastle walk away after one low-ball bid, then it's going to be a long summer for the fans again.
We absolutely understand not wanting to pay 'Saudi Tax', but we do still have to pay a player's worth, and £45 million was a low-ball starting point of an offer, I don't care what you think of Elanga.
Forest don't want to sell Elanga, so they aren't going to accept a lower bid. This isn't about 'Saudi Tax', this is about a club wanting to be compensated for losing a player they'd rather keep.
We're sure that even our penny-pinching board know what they're doing with this one. We're giving them the benefit of the doubt because if they genuinely think this is how the transfer market works, we're knackered.