Newcastle United chiefs will have been looking on in despair at Elliot Anderson's performance for England vs Andorra on Saturday evening after their homegrown star put in a real solid display on his debut for the Three Lions at Villa Park.
Anderson, born in nearby Whitley Bay, joined his boyhood club at the age of eight years old, rising through the ranks and making his first-team debut in January 2021 at the age of just 18. However, trouble stuck last summer when the Magpies were in need of sales to avoid a PSR disaster, and Anderson was sacrificed to avert any danger of a points deduction in the Premier League.
Newcastle Must Regret Elliot Anderson Sale to Nottingham Forest
elliot anderson
Nottingham Forest were the lucky recipients of his talents, paying around £35million to prise him from St. James' Park. He's since become a real asset for the Tricky Trees, playing all but one game in the Premier League last season as they went on a magical run to qualify for the Europa League.
That has resulted in an England call-up, and excelling alongside Declan Rice in the heart of midfield, it will have been tough for Newcastle chiefs to take - especially with the sale of Alexander Isak to Liverpool pushing them way further into the green in terms of PSR.
Anderson, according to FotMob, was deserving of an 8.3 rating against the European minnows - whilst Sofascore shows that he completed 107 of his 114 passes, having a shot on target that he should have put away, as well as winning three of his six ground duels and making two tackles.
It's a huge mistake from the Magpies. They've seen stars such as Anthony Gordon, Lewis Hall, Tino Livramento and Dan Burn burst into the England team after some strong outings in the north-east, and Anderson would have added to that cohort had he been kept on at his boyhood club.
Anderson's impressive outing will keep him in Thomas Tuchel's plans, with teammate Reece James calling him 'phenomenal', and that means that the 22-year-old's stock will only rise with European and international experience to come. And, with the sale of Isak, it was an entirely avoidable scenario in which they have lost arguably their best youth player since Andy Carroll.
Effectively, Anderson's sale and further PSR issues for Aston Villa have seen the Magpies sign Jacob Ramsey, though he has yet to feature for England's senior squad and overall, it appears to be a worse-off trade for Eddie Howe so far.
The Magpies boss has already admitted that he didn't want to sell Anderson, and he will now be furious with the fact that his former star has been doing so well. The English gaffer said, back in November:
“Elliot was a sale we didn’t want to make. Nobody at the football club internally wanted to make that sale but we had to.
“I think that one is a very unusual place because I think that will be happening again, not just here but at other clubs where you’re selling players for financial reasons.
“I don’t think it’s something that has really been done a lot in the history of the game unless you’re under financial restrictions where you have to sell. A club that has financial backing but has to sell because of the rules, that’s a new one.
“I think I’ve said before I don’t understand that rationale - why we’re in a position that you’re incentivised to sell academy products."
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