Just when fans were crying out for a breakthrough on the transfer, Thursday night featured some hugely promising news.
Having missed out on Liam Delap and Joao Pedro to Chelsea, and with Bryan Mbeumo and Marc Guehi each expected to move elsewhere, it had been a frustrating start to the summer, featuring far more early setbacks than signings.
But The Mail’s Craig Hope delivered the good news that we now look to be ‘on the verge of agreeing a deal’ with Nottingham Forest over star winger Anthony Elanga.
Big claims, with Hope and Fabrizio Romano reporting that we’ve upped our offer to £55m after our initial £45m bid was rejected last week. But we’ve now heard from the ever-reliable David Ornstein, who has offered his own update…
Writing in The Athletic, David Ornstein reveals that our bid for Elanga is worth in excess of £50m plus bonuses.
He states that Newcastle are making a big push to wrap up his signature with talks ongoing, but did add that there is still some work to be done on the player’s side.
Ornstein also reveals that Man Utd inserted a 15% sell-on clause into his £15m move to Forest two years ago, which may be another factor under consideration as we look to negotiate a deal that works for all parties.
This, of course, isn’t the first time we’ve bid for the Swede, as he was subject to an audacious deadline day bid last August, which Forest immediately rejected.
Ornstein details that we offered a £45m total package, featuring £30m plus Miguel Almiron (valued at £5m) and two future payments of £5m each.
🚨 Newcastle United pushing to secure signing of Anthony Elanga from Nottingham Forest. New bid for 23yo Sweden international worth more than £50m + bonuses. #NUFC efforts to finalise deal with #NFFC ongoing + work also needed on player side @TheAthleticFC https://t.co/tjVaoVT0s3
— David Ornstein (@David_Ornstein) July 3, 2025
It’s a strong sign of our commitment to the player that we’ve significantly improved our previous bid. Although Nottingham Forest would be losing their star winger, it’s another massive boost for them in terms of PSR headroom and would see them more than triple their money.
On the surface, a fee of at least £50m will seem steep, as Elanga will sit only behind Alexander Isak and Sandro Tonali in terms of our record signings.
Factor in the sell-on clause that Manchester United have in Elanga’s contract, which will likely help fund the transfer of Bryan Mbeumo, and many of our fans will no doubt be questioning why we’ve committed to paying so much for the 23-year-old.
However, £50m+ in the current market looks to be very much the going rate, especially considering the lack of quality wingers who are even half as versatile as Elanga.
Factoring in the fact he’s Prem-proven, has experience playing alongside compatriot Isak for the National Team, and boasted more contributions in the league than both Anthony Gordon and Harvey Barnes individually, and there can be no questions at the moment over whether we’ve overpaid for the man we’ve wanted for so long.