Newcastle are hopeful a full agreement will be reached to sign Anthony Elanga from Nottingham Forest this weekend, with confidence growing the move can soon be sealed and with details emerging of the player Nuno wanted to bring from St James’ Park as part of the deal.
Negotiations between Newcastle and Nottingham Forest for Elanga have been ongoing for several days now and, while a total agreement has not been reached yet, the two sides have at least found common ground over the asking price. To that end, the Magpies’ £55m (€64m, $75m) offer for the 22-times capped Sweden winger is close to being accepted – and now only one small hurdle remains before a full agreement is reached.
To that end, we can reveal that the main focus of current talks over Elanga is on the payment terms and how the fee will be structured.
While the total value is close to what Forest expect, both sides are now working on the structure of the deal: how and when the money will be paid. A small fine-tuning of the offer, and increasing it to around £56-57m, could also help bring the two clubs closer to a final agreement.
Manchester United are also watching the situation carefully, as they are entitled to 15% of any profit from Elanga’s sale, having included a sell-on clause in his original transfer to Forest.
As it stands, and having sold the 23-year-old for just £15m in 2023, they look set to pocket an additional £6m – which is 15% of the likely £40m profit Nottingham Forest stand to make.
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Anthony Elanga transfer: Personal terms at Newcastle not an issue
On the player’s side, there are no expected issues with personal terms and an agreement is quickly expected to be reached between the parties.
Newcastle manager Eddie Howe is a big admirer of Elanga, and the club is confident that the deal can be completed soon despite the small remaining differences.
Talks are ongoing, and both parties are hopeful of finding a solution in the coming hours/days.
In the meantime, talkSPORT journalist Alex Crooks has revealed Newcastle’s efforts to sign Elanga stretch back to the January window.
And he has revealed the Newcastle star that Forest boss Nuno tried to sign as part of any deal.
“When Forest and Newcastle were talking about a potential deal for Elanga late in the winter window, my understanding is that Forest actually wanted to take [Jacob] Murphy in part exchange. Eddie Howe put a stop to that because he’s such a big fan of Murphy,” Crooks said.
Such a move clearly would not have made sense from a Newcastle point of view. Murphy was in the midst of his best-ever season on Tyneside, going on to finish the campaign with an impressive nine goals and 14 assists from 41 appearances.
Furthermore, with Miguel Almiron also departing St James’ Park to sign for Atlanta United, any exit would have seriously restricted Howe’s options down the right flank.
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Meanwhile, Newcastle have reportedly set an ‘astronomical’ figure to ward off Manchester City from landing one Tino Livramento, amid claims Pep Guardiola feels a deal is there to be done and the Magpies will wilt in the face of a big-money offer.
Another star Howe is desperate to retain is Sweden striker Alexander Isak, who many now rate as one of the world’s top five strikers.
However, a high-profile commentator insists the prospects of the 25-year-old departing St James’ and joining Liverpool this summer cannot be ruled out, amid reports that a ‘wage-structure-breaking’ contract is being prepared.
And finally, Newcastle are the clear favourite ahead of a European giant for the signing of Liverpool attacker Harvey Elliott and how much a deal will cost for the England Under-21s hero has been revealed.
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