Nottingham Forest are holding firm in their valuation for Anthony Elanga, but if Newcastle United do agree a deal, their scouting department has already identified a perfect alternative for the Reds.
Forest don’t need to sell Elanga, so any sale will be done on Evangelos Marinakis’ terms, meaning that Newcastle will have to be ready for intense negotiations.
Following up on their long-term interest, Newcastle had a bid rejected for Elanga with Forest not budging on the £60m valuation.
Therefore, Newcastle know exactly what Elanga will cost, and if they match it, Forest should replace the Swede in Nuno Espírito Santo’s squad with one of the Magpies’ alternative options.
Johan Bakayoko of PSV celebrates after scoring the team's first goal which was cancelled by VAR during the Dutch TOTO KNVB Beker Third Round match between PSV and Excelsior Rotterdam
Photo by Joris Verwijst/BSR Agency/Getty Images
Nottingham Forest should target Johan Bakayoko to replace Anthony Elanga
Newcastle want to sign Joao Pedro as well as Elanga, but may not be able to afford both. This has led the Newcastle recruitment staff to look at alternatives for the Forest man, with PSV’s Johan Bakayoko suggested as an option.
Sky Sports’ Keith Downie suggested that Newcastle would turn to either Bakayoko, Karim Adeyemi or Mohammed Kudus should Elanga prove too difficult to prise away, with the PSV man someone who Forest have looked at previously.
Forest made an offer for Bakayoko last summer, but the winger was adamant about pursuing a club challenging for titles at the time.
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With the Reds’ progression under Espírito Santo since, Bakayoko could be worth revisiting should Elanga leave, especially given that the Belgian outperforms Elanga in a number of key areas.
Johan Bakayoko could be even better than Anthony Elanga
Elanga’s importance to the Forest squad means that serious consideration would have to go into picking his successor should he leave. Someone who could provide very similar strengths would be required, a box that Bakayoko would tick.
Statistic Anthony Elanga Johan Bakayoko
Goals 6 9
Assists 11 1
Shots on target per 90 0.86 1.51
Pass completion % 65.3% 79.2%
Successful take ons per 90 0.90 2.69
Progressive carries per 90 3.67 7.43
Elanga vs Bakayoko last season
However, Bakayoko may actually offer more to the Forest coaching staff, with assists the only glaring advantage Elanga has over the 22-year-old last season.
Bakayoko is more efficient in front of goal and the underlying stats show that he has everything to provide the same creativity as Elanga, too, completing 2.69 take ons per game as well as progressing the ball ten yards or more 7.43 times per 90 minutes.
In the 23/24 campaign, Bakayoko scored 14 and assisted the same number, if Espírito Santo could garner that level of performance out of him for Forest, he would represent the perfect replacement for Elanga should Newcastle pull the trigger.