Nottingham Forest winger Anthony Elanga will now enjoy a summer break, but on Friday night, he was in action as Sweden took on Hungary.
The Reds winger was called upon by Jon Dahl Tomasson and he appears to be back in favour on the international stage now after Elanga was dropped by Sweden earlier during the campaign.
However, some fantastic form for Forest has propelled Elanga back into favour with the national team and it would appear that he’s keen to make up for some lost time on that front.
Elanga has been linked with Newcastle over the weekend. Speculation is going to be rife in plenty of Forest players this summer, with the club on the back of a brilliant season which saw the team finish seventh and qualify for Europe.
Photo by David Balogh/Getty Images
Photo by David Balogh/Getty Images
This was a big game for Elanga, most notably as he knew it would be his last game of the 2024/25 campaign. He’s going to miss the friendly with Algeria on Tuesday due to personal reasons and clearly, he was keen to head into the summer on a high.
Elanga didn’t get himself on the score sheet, but he did play in a position that Forest fans will be familiar with. Tomasson chose to play him as a number nine and that’s where he spent the final stages of 2024/25 playing for the Reds.
Clearly, the move worked for the national team too, because Fotbollskanalen named him as one of two players to score 4/5 for his performance and believed the positional change was masterful.
They wrote: “Played as a number nine and offered many good deep runs, which opened up both for himself and others. Felt lively and was close to scoring 1-0 in the 33rd minute. Then he burned a good position inside the box. Served Ayari a good opportunity early in the second half. Ended the evening by running into a free position, which he burned. An effort that will probably give Elanga more chances in Blågult.”
MORE FOREST STORIES
Anthony Elanga stats vs Hungary
There isn’t really a statistic for being fast as such. However, it’s fair to say that Tomasson was impressed with Elanga’s work rate against Hungary, with Sweden winning 2-0.
Elanga has been instrumental for Forest in the second half of 2024/25. Remarkably, some fans were unsure of his place in the side in the early stages of the campaign, with Nuno Espirito Santo taking him out for a short period in October.
Anthony Elanga stats vs Hungary Total
Minutes 90
Dribbles 3
Pass Accuracy 82%
Ground Duels Contested 7
However, that move paid dividends. He roared back with a point to prove, and in December and at the turn of the year, he started to showcase why Newcastle are so desperate to sign him this summer.
Forest would be wise to keep hold of Elanga beyond this summer. He’s amassed 31 goal contributions in two seasons at the club, and given how fast he is, he would be difficult to replace.