Elliot Anderson was once the Academy's star boy but despite being a fully-fledged England international already, the Magpies banked a paltry fee for his services
Lee Ryder follows Newcastle United home and away as our Chief Newcastle United Writer. Lee has reported on the Magpies from China, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, the United States, Russia, Ukraine, and across Europe. Covered England at Euro 2020 and Euro 2024.
Newcastle head coach Eddie Howe and former Unied midfielder Elliot Anderson (L)
Newcastle head coach Eddie Howe and former Unied midfielder Elliot Anderson (L)
Elliot Anderson's controversial exit from Newcastle United didn't seem right then, and it certainly doesn't seem right now.
Saturday night was bittersweet for Toon-based football fans as England strolled to a World Cup qualifying victory over Andorra with Blyth lad Dan Burn, Tino Livramento, and Anthony Gordon all involved.
But the star of the show was undoubtedly a lad from Whitley Bay in young Anderson, a man who now has the football world at his feet.
It hasn't been a straight-forward journey for Anderson after awkwardly departing a Scotland senior camp to keep his England hopes alive in 2023 before back injury in the same season forced him to miss 27 games at a time when he could have made a first-team place his own amid Sandro Tonali's FIFA ban for illegal betting.
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Injuries aside at Newcastle United, they had a star in the making firmly in their grasp until the ex-Wallsend Boys Club youth player had to be sold in order to fend off PSR agony.
One Geordie summed up the state of the nation on Monday morning when muttering: "I'd have taken a six-point deduction to keep him."
And that's what Newcastle chiefs were facing had they not sanctioned the sale of the former Valley Gardens pupil last June, something which ex-sporting director Paul Mitchell admitted publicly to 3,000 supporters at a fan event last November in the STACK.
When the idea of selling Anderson was first suggested, the player's agency tried to shut down the idea and a move to Wolverhampton Wanderers, who'd expressed interest, was brushed away.
But as Newcastle's desperation deepened and the Premier League's PSR health check deadline ticked ever closer, Nottingham Forest sensed a possible advantage.
Long after the dust had settled on a deal that Eddie Howe told me he never wanted to do in the first place, the head coach said last May: "The PSR deadline plays a huge role for clubs - both those clubs with PSR issues and those without - because those without may potentially look to try to sign players.
"We want to keep our best players, I think I've made that very clear. That's not just the wish from me, that's the wish from everyone at the club."
However, Newcastle didn't keep Anderson, and on a damaging day in the club's history books, June 30, 2024, the lad from Whitley who'd been the star boy of United's Academy was sold for a mere £35m with around £20m going straight back into City Ground coffers for reserve goalkeeper Odysseas Vlachodimos.
United also sold Yankuba Minteh for £30m to Brighton, but the Anderson deal was always a move that could come back to haunt Newcastle, and it has.
Applying a bit of logic to the situation was Anderson himself who admitted in the build-up to Andorra he may not have won that call-up had he not left Newcastle.
Anderson said: "It was a tough move at the time but ultimately, I probably wouldn’t be sitting here now if I didn’t make the move.
"Sometimes you’ve got to step out of your comfort zone and believe in yourself, which is what I’ve done.
"I believed I was ready to go and play in the Premier League every week, and I don’t think I would be in this position now if I didn’t do it."
If a £15m profit for a player compared to Paul Gascoigne is a bitter pill to swallow, then the fact that there are no options to get Anderson back in a black and white shirt any time soon is even harder to bear.
The 22-year-old is tied down to a contract at the City Ground until 2029 with an improved deal likely if he keeps going like this.
Chronicle Live has been told by well-placed sources that there is no buy-back option despite suggestions that Newcastle can activate certain clauses in his agreement with Forest.
If Newcastle wanted Anderson back, they'd have to pay full market value for the midfielder, with the Geordie boy worth at least double what he was sold for right now, perhaps he is even edging towards £100m.
All that does lie in place at St James' Park is to ensure that United never end up in this position ever again, which will be high on the to do list of new CEO David Hopkinson and the next sporting director.
The sales of Gazza, Peter Beardsley and Chris Waddle were all painful, and as Anderson flourishes in an England shirt, this feels like a modern-day equivalent.