Nottingham Forest star set for St James’ Park move after Newcastle United £50m summer transfer ‘bid’
Nottingham Forest star set for St James’ Park move after Newcastle United £50m summer transfer ‘bid’
Newcastle United will get a closer look at one reported transfer target this weekend when Nottingham Forest travel to St James’ Park on Sunday.
Both teams head into that game on the back of defeats on the road at the weekend with Newcastle falling to a 4-0 loss at the hands of Manchester City, whilst Forest were defeated 2-1 at Craven Cottage by Fulham. The race for European qualification is very much alive with Sunday’s game having the potential to be a season-defining 90 minutes for both sides.
There are plenty of narrative strands healing into Sunday’s game, among those are Elliot Anderson’s first return to St James’ Park following his move to Forest last summer. Anderson has played twice against the Magpies since leaving his boyhood club, but has yet to feature at St James’ Park as an opposition player.
Matz Sels is also set to make his first appearance at St James’ Park since 18 January 2017 when he featured in an FA Cup Third Round clash against Birmingham City. Chris Wood will also face his former employers this weekend at a stadium where he scored a hat-trick on Boxing Day 2023 as Forest secured a shock 3-1 win.
Amongst all of these stories is also the potential for Newcastle to get another look at Anthony Elanga. The Magpies have long been linked with a move for the former Manchester United man and could be someone they take a look at when the summer transfer window opens at the end of the season as they look to strengthen their options out wide.
Newcastle United’s Elanga transfer approach
As the hours turned into minutes during the 2024 summer transfer window, Newcastle United looked to have concluded their business for the month. However, stunning reports on deadline day revealed that they were discussing a potential eleventh-hour swoop for Elanga.
The Forest man had been linked with a move to Tyneside earlier in the window, but no progress on a move was made as the Magpies turned their attentions elsewhere. As the 11pm deadline approached, though, Elanga’s name began to crop up again as they looked for one marquee signing after a quiet window.
Ultimately, those reports of a £50m bid were quickly quashed and the winger remained at the City Ground, with the Magpies heading into the campaign with Miguel Almiron and Jacob Murphy as their right-wing options. Those options were halved last month when Almiron was sold to Atlanta United, leaving Murphy as the club’s only recognised senior right-winger.
Whilst a regular under Espirito Santo at the beginning of the season, Elanga initially struggled to translate minutes on the pitch into goals and assists. The Swedish international set up just two goals before mid-December, with those coming in Forest’s win at Anfield and in their 3-1 defeat against the Magpies.
However, a brilliant run at the end of 2024 and beginning of this year saw him score in three consecutive Premier League matches before then registering assists in three successive outings. He also bagged three assists in their 7-0 hammering of Brighton at the beginning of this month.
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