Newcastle United forward Anthony Elanga has explained why he’s great friends with Barcelona’s Roony Bardghji.
Fotboll Skanalen cover comments from the Newcastle man today in which he explains how the 19-year-old is “like a brother”.
Both players have something of a shared history having been seen as ‘super talents’ early on in their careers.
That was a tag handed to Elanga when he was coming through the ranks at Manchester United, although it has taken him moving away to live up to it. He found his feet at Nottingham Forest before joining Newcastle in a big move this summer.
Bardghji is very much at the beginning of the path. He came through the ranks at Copenhagen, starring for them from a young age, particularly in Europe and made his debut for them aged just 16 in 2021. He went on to make 84 appearances for them, scoring 15 goals and assisting once.
Clubs around Europe scouted him as a result but Barcelona jumped first, securing him in a €2.5m deal this summer.
Now he’s linking up with the Newcastle man in the Sweden set up. That’s something Elanga appears to be delighted about.
“He feels like a brother. We clicked immediately,” he said.
“I will take care of him when he is here. I think he can help the team a lot. He has good qualities. Look at what he has done in Barcelona. He’s a very nice person and a fantastic player.
“I don’t know. It just feels like I’ve known him longer than I have.”