Newcastle United winger Anthony Elangaplaceholder image
Newcastle United winger Anthony Elanga | AFP via Getty Images
Anthony Elanga has thanked Newcastle United supporters for helping him during a difficult start at St James’ Park.
Anthony Elanga has hailed Newcastle United supporters as “the best in the world” ahead of tonight’s Champions League clash.
It has been a difficult start on Tyneside for the £55million winger. A player Newcastle chased for over a year, Elanga had established himself as a solid Premier League operator at Nottingham Forest.
An impressive 17 Premier League goal contributions convinced the Magpies that he was the man to solve the right-sided dilemma. However, the Swede has failed to reach those same levels at St James’ Park.
Anthony Elanga’s difficult Newcastle United start
Elanga has just one assist and is yet to score a Premier League goal in black-and-white stripes. To the naked eye, a confidence issue has been at play, with the 23-year-old struggling to hold down a first-team place.
Fans have noticed an improvement in recent weeks - especially since netting a Carabao Cup strike against Manchester City. In truth, the turning point could have been late in the 3-0 win over PSV Eindhoven, when his name echoed around St James’ Park as a show of support for his 2025-26 struggles.
‘Best in the world’ - Anthony Elanga
Speaking about Newcastle’s support, Elanga crowned the Toon Army as the world’s best. Around 2,000 fans are making the 5,000-mile-round trip to support United in Azerbaijan.
“It's amazing,” Elanga told reporters about the Newcastle fan base. “I said it from the beginning since I got here. The Newcastle fans are the best fans in the world.
“They support us unprecedentedly. It's just unique to be part of them. To hear them chant my name is always amazing. I always try to give my best every time I step on the pitch.”
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Anthony Elanga on Eddie Howe
Elanga also opened up about the confidence Eddie Howe has given him since arriving. He added: “The players, first and foremost, we played (against Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa) for the coach. He's given us so much confidence and he's helped us each and every single one so much. So, we know we haven't been perfect. We know there's times where we've played really well and I think it's just the consistency part.
“If we can just remain consistent, I'm sure results will go our way. Our recent two away games, we've won. So, it's all about building momentum really and if we can just build on the performances in our recent games, I'm sure we'll be fine.
“It's important that we continue to play for the manager because he's done so much for us and he's helped us so much. So now up to us to continue to do what we've been doing recently and just keep on letting the football do the talking.
“He's helped me so much from each and every single area to my name. And I'm still at the beginning. I won't say I'm where I want to be just yet. Right now I'm just focussing on football and consistency and trying to build game by game. In fact, I'm just going to stay patient and stay committed and show my performance at what we've been talking about.”
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