Manchester City could follow Manchester United in walking away from Elliot Anderson, with Fabrizio Romano hinting City could now move for Michael Carrick’s top midfield target instead.
Man City tabled an eye-watering £121m (£106m plus £15m in add-ons) bid for Anderson earlier this week. The offer was City’s second for the 23-year-old and despite its size, it was quickly rejected by Nottingham Forest.
Forest have informed Man City they will only sell if the guaranteed part of any bid is worth upwards of £120m. Forest want Anderson to become the most expensive midfielder in Premier League history.
Numerous sources including David Ornstein and Fabrizio Romano have noted Man Utd have taken a dim view of the costs involved.
United have no intention of engaging in a bidding war with Man City. And even if City pull out, United have no desire to pay £120m-plus for a player who favoured joining City over the Red Devils anyway.
That has resulted in Man Utd looking elsewhere for their second and potentially third additions in midfield after Ederson.
Mateus Fernandes (West Ham), Alex Scott (Bournemouth) and Sandro Tonali (Newcastle) are now in their sights.
That change of direction may actually suit new boss Carrick, with recent reliable reports claiming Italy international Tonali was actually Carrick’s top choice in midfield anyway. It was INEOS and the club’s hierarchy that favoured Anderson.
However, the latest update form transfer guru Romano claims Man Utd’s plans for Tonali could now be torpedoed by Man City.
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Man City could ditch Elliot Anderson and sign Sandro Tonali
When providing insight into what happens next between Man City and Anderson, he theorised City would walk away from the move and go for Tonali instead.
The first part of that scenario was hinted at by Ornstein on Wednesday when noting there’d been ‘no fresh talks with City’ regarding Anderson’s transfer after the £121m bid was turned down.
“I want to discuss the Man City situation, because on one side there is still the situation of Elliot Anderson,” began Romano when reporting on his YouTube channel.
“Manchester City yesterday offered £121m add-ons included, for Elliot Anderson – £106m plus £15m as add-ons.
“The bid has been rejected by Nottingham Forest. Forest want guaranteed money and for Anderson to officially become the most expensive midfielder in the history of the Premier League, more than Declan Rice, and more than [Moises] Caicedo.
“Now let’s see what Manchester City decide to do because it was already a big proposal. Don’t forget what I told you last week, another player really appreciated, really, really appreciated by Manchester City is also Sandro Tonali.
“Man City have several options in midfield. On Tonali, there is interest from other clubs in England, including Arsenal.
“But for sure it’s going to be an interesting couple of days and weeks around midfielders because Man Utd are working on their deals.
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“I told you about Mateus Fernandes, I told you that Elliot Anderson is considered too expensive by Man Utd.
“Man City had two bids rejected by Nottingham Forest. The second one was a very important bid, £121m, but still not enough to convince Nottingham Forest.
“Let’s see what happens around Tonali, because Newcastle are signing Victor Munoz, but could lose Tonali in this summer transfer window.
“There is movement, there are clubs interested, and this could be a situation to watch, for sure.”
Tonali is valued at the £100m mark by Newcastle, who could still sell a major player this summer despite collecting £69m from the sale of Anthony Gordon to Barcelona.