Arsenal are sensing an opportunity to step up their interest in Nottingham Forest star Elliot Anderson and hijack Man City's move to sign him, according to Caught Offside.
The Gunners are looking for ways to strengthen their squad this summer despite an excellent season, as they sit nine points clear at the top of the Premier League with seven games remaining, while they are also in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup and Champions League.
The club are understood to be prioritising a move to bring in a new left-winger and potentially a forward, but midfield is also an area of the squad they could look to strengthen, which has alerted them to the situation of Anderson.
Arsenal Not Out of Anderson Race
Nottingham Forest's Elliot Anderson applauds fans
Anderson, who has been described as 'one of the world's leading players', has enjoyed a breakout campaign with Forest this season despite their battles against relegation.
His performances have seen him earn a starting spot in Thomas Tuchel's England side ahead of the World Cup this summer, and has seen a number of top clubs take an interest in his services for the upcoming window.
Man City are understood to be leading the race ahead of Man Utd currently, with Forest demanding around £100m to do a deal for their star player, but it has now emerged that Arsenal believe they could enter and win the race for his signature.
“Don’t rule out Arsenal just yet,” a source told Caught Offside.
“Man City have had talks, they’re feeling positive about their position, but nothing’s done yet. What I’m hearing is that Arsenal sense an opportunity to get something done. We’ll have to see if they’re right, as other clubs have done more work on this as of now.”
Anderson Signing Would Be Overkill
Elliot Anderson
While there is no doubting how good Anderson is, there would be question marks about where he fits into the side at Arsenal if he were to join.
Declan Rice and Martin Zubimendi have made the deeper midfield roles their own, while Eberechi Eze and Martin Odegaard are battling for the number ten role, which leaves little room for the England star. Spending £100m on Anderson to have him not be a sure-fire starter seems like overkill, especially when there are other areas of the team that need attention first.
GIVEMESPORT asked ChatGPT who Anderson would likely replace in the team if he joined, and this was its response:
Elliot Anderson would most likely compete with and rotate for Kai Havertz or Martin Ødegaard in advanced midfield roles.
More realistically, he’d replace Declan Rice or Martin Zubimendi in deeper rotation, not immediately displacing a nailed-on starter.
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