Newcastle United’s transfer business has been sensational in Eddie Howe’s near-four-year spell at the club, but one move will always leave fans full of regret.
Since the takeover in 2021, the Magpies have been backed financially in most transfer windows, albeit with some trouble over the last 18 months.
However, Newcastle United are in a much better financial position and are making up for lost time in the summer transfer window, making four senior signings as well as a slew of young stars.
Jacob Ramsey is Newcastle’s latest signing, who follows Malick Thiaw, Aaron Ramsdale and Anthony Elanga through the St James’ Park doors this summer. The hope is that more deals can be done before the end of the transfer window, with Eddie Howe keen to add two more faces to his squad.
The hope is that Newcastle’s new signings can hit the ground running and bring more success to the club after a memorable 2024/25 campaign. While there is a lot of hope and ambition for the future, the Magpies will always be haunted by one deal Howe did not even want to make last year.
Elliot Anderson during a friendly between Nottingham Forest and Al Qadsiah.
Photo by Warren Little/Getty Images
Newcastle United may always live to regret selling Elliot Anderson in 2024
Elliot Anderson is one of many recent graduates from Newcastle’s academy. Having made his debut under Steve Bruce, Anderson became a more frequent name on the teamsheet under Howe.
The midfielder always impressed whenever he played, giving fans hope that he could become a regular starter one day. However, everything changed in June 2024, when PSR issues forced Newcastle into action.
In a snap decision, Newcastle sold Anderson to Nottingham Forest for a fee of £35million, while young and promising winger Yankuba Minteh went to Brighton for around £33million.
MORE NEWCASTLE STORIES
Both players went on to have great first seasons away from Newcastle, with Anderson securing European football for Forest. Newcastle may never live down selling Anderson, a player who helped them in more ways than one. Howe was reluctant to sell Anderson, and has since gone on the regret the decision.
The 22-year-old was brimming with talent and quality, who can play as an attacking midfielder as well as centrally. While Ramsey is a quality addition for Newcastle, Anderson could have provided as much cover in the midfield and saved Howe millions.
His quality was once again on display in Forest’s Premier League opener against Brentford, where he provided a wonderful assist to former Newcastle man Chris Wood.
Why Newcastle United only received £15m for Elliot Anderson
Anderson played alongside Tino Livramento at the Under-21 European Championships, with the pair two of the standout players throughout the tournament.
After winning the tournament, Livramento and Anderson looked back on their time at Newcastle together, making sure fans were still feeling emotional about the situation.
While £35m was the transfer fee, Newcastle only received £15m for Anderson, a shockingly low number given how highly rated he was.
🤝 Newcastle United midfielder Elliot Anderson has completed a permanent move to Nottingham Forest.
Everyone at #NUFC thanks @elljanderson for his service to the club and extends their best wishes for the next chapter in his career. 🖤🤍
— Newcastle United (@NUFC) June 30, 2024
View Tweet
The reason for the fee being too low was that in turn for buying Anderson, Nottingham Forest sold Odysseas Vlachodimos to Newcastle for £20m.
Vlachodimos may go down as one of the worst deals in Newcastle’s history, even though the Greece international never got the chance to impress for the Magpies.
After an uneventful first season, Vlachodimos is now on loan at Sevilla, though he will definitely return next year due to the deal not including a buy option.