Elliot Anderson | Athletic: United's main target

I am very skeptical about the 100m price. I think he is like a 60-70 player.

- He is below average for CMs in goal contributions.

- He is good defensively but below the elite players

- Passing is good but not elite

- Best part of his game is probably carries and take-ons.

While he is a good all round CM, he is not elite in creativity or in stopping the opposition. For comparisons to Rice or Caicedo. Rice is 94% for NP Goals and 95% for assists. Caicedo has 93% pass completion and 75% progressive passing and is genuinely elite as a DM.

Overall a good solid CM who will improve us significantly but not deserving of 100m price tag.
 
Tallis said:
I am very skeptical about the 100m price. I think he is like a 60-70 player.

- He is below average for CMs in goal contributions.

- He is good defensively but below the elite players

- Passing is good but not elite

- Best part of his game is probably carries and take-ons.

While he is a good all round CM, he is not elite in creativity or in stopping the opposition. For comparisons to Rice or Caicedo. Rice is 94% for NP Goals and 95% for assists. Caicedo has 93% pass completion and 75% progressive passing and is genuinely elite as a DM.

Overall a good solid CM who will improve us significantly but not deserving of 100m price tag.
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The comparison to Rice’s current stats seems overly harsh considering they’re at different stages of their career. Rice is 26 and playing for one of the best teams in the league having made his big move from a smaller club. Anderson is 23 and in the same sort of position Rice was in three years ago.

For comparison, in the 22/23 season - Rice’s final season at West Ham when he was around that age - he only got 6 G/A in 37 appearance. Last season for Forest Anderson got 8 G/A in 37 appearances.

That’s not to say Anderson will make the same progress Rice has in the past few years, who knows. But comparing him at this stage in his career to the two peak CMs in the league just seems a bit churlish. The market is incredibly inflated and really good, well rounded midfielders sell at a premium and he seems to have as much potential as any.
 
If he is that good let us see what top clubs come looking for him in the summer.
 
Zumbi said:
The comparison to Rice’s current stats seems overly harsh considering they’re at different stages of their career. Rice is 26 and playing for one of the best teams in the league having made his big move from a smaller club. Anderson is 23 and in the same sort of position Rice was in three years ago.

For comparison, in the 22/23 season - Rice’s final season at West Ham when he was around that age - he only got 6 G/A in 37 appearance. Last season for Forest Anderson got 8 G/A in 37 appearances.

That’s not to say Anderson will make the same progress Rice has in the past few years, who knows. But comparing him at this stage in his career to the two peak CMs in the league just seems a bit churlish. The market is incredibly inflated and really good, well rounded midfielders sell at a premium and he seems to have as much potential as any.
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Its a fair point. West Ham were 14th in that season vs NF in CL spots most of last season?

The main point I was making was that I am not seeing a WC player from a goal threat, creativity or defending perspective. More of a ack of all trades with top quality press resistance.
 
Tallis said:
Its a fair point. West Ham were 14th in that season vs NF in CL spots most of last season?

The main point I was making was that I am not seeing a WC player from a goal threat, creativity or defending perspective. More of a ack of all trades with top quality press resistance.
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And my point was that Rice wasn’t a WC player from any of those perspectives either when he moved for £100 million. You could have just as easily described him as a jack of all trades a few years ago. That’s hindsight for you.
 
Tallis said:
He is below average for CMs in goal contributions.

- He is good defensively but below the elite players

- Passing is good but not elite

- Best part of his game is probably carries and take-ons
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https://fbref.com/stathead//player_...1-2022&player_id2=de31038e&p2yrfrom=2025-2026

His numbers are actually not very different from Vitinha at Porto at the same age. Adjust for the quality of the league and the level of the team and Elliots numbers actually look more impressive.
 
Tallis said:
I am very skeptical about the 100m price. I think he is like a 60-70 player.

- He is below average for CMs in goal contributions.

- He is good defensively but below the elite players

- Passing is good but not elite

- Best part of his game is probably carries and take-ons.

While he is a good all round CM, he is not elite in creativity or in stopping the opposition. For comparisons to Rice or Caicedo. Rice is 94% for NP Goals and 95% for assists. Caicedo has 93% pass completion and 75% progressive passing and is genuinely elite as a DM.

Overall a good solid CM who will improve us significantly but not deserving of 100m price tag.
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I think people are still in denial about Anderson. He wins the ball back as much as Caicedo in terms of volume and engages in more duels. Anderson has carried the whole burden of ball progression for Forest, and you can see his excellent passing between the lines when you watch him play. For this season alone, you are looking at a better defender than Rice and a better ball player than Caicedo. How is that not a good thing?

All four of Rice's assists this season have come directly from set pieces, so you have to look beyond the assist count when comparing them, unless you value the set-piece threat. Being very good in many aspects is a big plus for a midfielder. You are comparing different parts of Anderson’s game to the best in the league in those aspects. Of course he'd come up short, everyone would.

He has been much better than Rice when you look at their defensive stats alone, and much better than Caicedo in possession stats this season. Caicedo has always been tidy in possession since his Brighton days, but he's never been as adventurous as Anderson has been this season. Anderson's ball carrying and passing between the lines shows a player who takes responsibility for progression, not just recycling the ball.

If his level this season is his genuine level as a midfielder and he can sustain that, then there's no reason to say he isn't worth as much as the current Rice and Caicedo. Nobody believed Rice or Caicedo were worth the prices Arsenal and Chelsea paid at the time too. Whether this is his real level or just a purple patch is the only question.
 
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Mcking said:
I think people are still in denial about Anderson. He wins the ball back as much as Caicedo in terms of volume and engages in more duels. Anderson has carried the whole burden of ball progression for Forest, and you can see his excellent passing between the lines when you watch him play. For this season alone, you are looking at a better defender than Rice and a better ball player than Caicedo. How is that not a good thing?

All four of Rice's assists this season have come directly from set pieces, so you have to look beyond the assist count when comparing them, unless you value the set-piece threat. Being very good in many aspects is a big plus for a midfielder. You are comparing different parts of Anderson’s game to the best in the league in those aspects. Of course he'd come up short, everyone would.

He has been much better than Rice when you look at their defensive stats alone, and much better than Caicedo in possession stats this season. Caicedo has always been tidy in possession since his Brighton days, but he's never been as adventurous as Anderson has been this season. Anderson’s ball carrying and passing between the lines shows a player who takes responsibility for progression, not just recycling the ball.

If his level this season is his genuine level as a midfielder and he can sustain that, then there’s no reason to say he isn’t worth as much as the current Rice and Caicedo. Nobody believed Rice or Caicedo were worth the prices Arsenal and Chelsea paid at the time too. Whether this is his real level or just a purple patch is the only question.
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I think you're overrating him. The hype has just gone to another level. I have seen different sets of stats as well which don't suggest that he is better than Caicedo in defending or as a goal threat.

If PSG can sign Vitinha for 40m and Neves for 60m, and City can sign Rodri for 60m, those are also important data points. The Chelsea Liverpool battle over Caicedo just pushed his price to crazy levels. And Arsenal had the luxury of blowing 100m on one player (not sure if we have)
 
Tallis said:
I think you're overrating him. The hype has just gone to another level. I have seen different sets of stats as well which don't suggest that he is better than Caicedo in defending or as a goal threat.

If PSG can sign Vitinha for 40m and Neves for 60m, and City can sign Rodri for 60m, those are also important data points. The Chelsea Liverpool battle over Caicedo just pushed his price to crazy levels. And Arsenal had the luxury of blowing 100m on one player (not sure if we have)
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I never said he's a better defender than Caicedo, and I wouldn't pay £100m for him. I wouldn't have paid £100m for Caicedo at Brighton or Rice at West Ham either, but Anderson this season has been every bit as good as they were when they moved and is currently performing at a similar level overall.
 
Tallis said:
and City can sign Rodri for 60m
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Rodri was signed six years ago and they got him «cheap» due to a release clause.

And yes, we can take punts on players from lower league and pay less. We have tried several times without much success. That is also the case for several other top clubs btw, including PSG.
 
He’s a great player but Forest have been quoted at wanting £120m, so definitely not a January signing and remains doubtful whether Ineos would sanction blowing the budget on one signing.
 
100million+ for this guy is genuinely mental. He's a good player but he's never living up to that fee and the press will be on him from day one, only adding to the pressure.
 
KStandBarmyArmy1993 said:
100million+ for this guy is genuinely mental. He's a good player but he's never living up to that fee and the press will be on him from day one, only adding to the pressure.
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I doubt it will be that much. Nottingham are initially going to ask, but with most transfers there are negotiations that take place, and we seem to have capable people responsible for that now. I imagine the price will be around £75m with some add-ons. I would be fine with it. I am tired of spending half that for completely average players that have few strengths, and have no experience in this league whatsoever. The consequence of doing that is that we are just going to replace them in a year or two, and the cycle repeats itself.

Arsenal paid up for Rice, Chelsea paid up for Caicedo and they are far better teams because of it. Anderson is next in line, and I am sure we will regret it if someone else gets him.
 
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He is good but not 100M good, it will be better to look elsewhere, we managed to sign 2 good players who dominated the PL for less than 100M each.
 
I think I need to see a lot more of him because he doesn’t impress me to the extent of being some marquee signing and he’s miles off what Caicedo was, which prompted the bidding war. Not sure he even looks like Rice’s level before he moved.

Wharton’s fitness is starting to become a worry, however.

If we do land him, I hope you guys singing his praises are spot on because he feels overrated to me at the moment.
 
I understand that £100 mill put people off, but with the right structure I do think it is fair. For instance make sure 30 % percent are related to performances. It could be £7 mill each year he plays more than 2500 min for a Man Utd that qualify for the CL the next five years. Half that if we dont. (I think salary should be structured similarly.)
 
NF won't sell in jan, if utd wants the proverbial instant improvement then we have to pay the utd tax for good players. Anderson is reliable with good engine and passing range, non flashy player and we should be targeting such players to improve and make team more consistent. this is the profile of player we should be targeting.
 
imonkmc said:
NF won't sell in jan, if utd wants the proverbial instant improvement then we have to pay the utd tax for good players. Anderson is reliable with good engine and passing range, non flashy player and we should be targeting such players to improve and make team more consistent. this is the profile of player we should be targeting.
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For £100m+?
 
I prefer not to pay £100m+ for any player now. For some reason CM's are really expensive, we should not be standardising 100m for a CM.

He is a top player but I think 70m should be max we look to pay, which is nothing to do with player quality, its just the pressure when United pay alot for players.
 
Fortitude said:
I think I need to see a lot more of him because he doesn’t impress me to the extent of being some marquee signing and he’s miles off what Caicedo was, which prompted the bidding war. Not sure he even looks like Rice’s level before he moved.

Wharton’s fitness is starting to become a worry, however.

If we do land him, I hope you guys singing his praises are spot on because he feels overrated to me at the moment.
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He actually strikes me as a bit of a Rice. Not exceptional at anything (though Rice has now become an exceptional set piece specialist in terms of delivery), but a very good all rounder. One of those that every top club needs to keep things tiding over but there will be lots of noise over "why did we spend 100m on him?"
 
Fortitude said:
I think I need to see a lot more of him because he doesn’t impress me to the extent of being some marquee signing and he’s miles off what Caicedo was, which prompted the bidding war. Not sure he even looks like Rice’s level before he moved.
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I dont agree. Caicedo probably looked more exciting considering his age, but he was also insanely good. That being said, he played next to Mac Allister for a very well coached team.

But I think it is interesting to look at their underlying stats. Rice and Caicedo at WHU and Brighton, and Elliot Anderson this season;


https://fbref.com/stathead//player_...2-2023&player_id3=de31038e&p3yrfrom=2025-2026

What is really worth noticing about these stats are how attacking he is. He is by far superior to both in terms of progressive passing, passing into the final third, xag, touches in the oppositions penalty area, shot and goal creating chances etc.

In terms of on the ball talent I think Anderson looks better than Rice. And I was a huge fan of Rice for years.
 
Trigestis said:
I doubt it will be that much. Nottingham are initially going to ask, but with most transfers there are negotiations that take place, and we seem to have capable people responsible for that now. I imagine the price will be around £75m with some add-ons. I would be fine with it. I am tired of spending half that for completely average players that have few strengths, and have no experience in this league whatsoever. The consequence of doing that is that we are just going to replace them in a year or two, and the cycle repeats itself.

Arsenal paid up for Rice, Chelsea paid up for Caicedo and they are far better teams because of it. Anderson is next in line, and I am sure we will regret it if someone else gets him.
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£80+10m? Is too much?
 
How much did the agree to sell Gibbs-White for? Although did he have a year left on his contract? That should be a reasonable barometer.
 
SilentWitness said:
He actually strikes me as a bit of a Rice. Not exceptional at anything (though Rice has now become an exceptional set piece specialist in terms of delivery), but a very good all rounder. One of those that every top club needs to keep things tiding over but there will be lots of noise over "why did we spend 100m on him?"
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Oh I wouldn’t mind him for a decent fee, I see a good player there. It’s just when move the slider up and the numbers hit the exceptional range, I haven’t seen that in him, so for me it does come down to price at the moment.

If we’re seriously linked, I need to watch a lot more of him, admittedly.
 
TsuWave said:
These £100M valuations are so extreme to me
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It's the fact that it has become so accepted. At the same time, clubs are having to increasingly find more and "creative" ways of increasing revenue just to stay competitive.

And, how many of these massive transfers have actually been successful? And I don't mean a few decent (occasionally great performances like Caicedo...). I mean, an almost transformative impact which is what you should be getting for that amount of money.

Liverpool spent 400million in the summer and will presumably need to spend a load more in summer 2026 to replace the failed mega transfers from summer 2025.
 
andersj said:
I dont agree. Caicedo probably looked more exciting considering his age, but he was also insanely good. That being said, he played next to Mac Allister for a very well coached team.

But I think it is interesting to look at their underlying stats. Rice and Caicedo at WHU and Brighton, and Elliot Anderson this season;


https://fbref.com/stathead//player_...2-2023&player_id3=de31038e&p3yrfrom=2025-2026

What is really worth noticing about these stats are how attacking he is. He is by far superior to both in terms of progressive passing, passing into the final third, xag, touches in the oppositions penalty area, shot and goal creating chances etc.

In terms of on the ball talent I think Anderson looks better than Rice. And I was a huge fan of Rice for years.
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Caicedo had the It-factor for me and you could see that not only was he shining then, but that he has more gears to go up. I was fanboying in his transfer threads because he was an exceptional player in the making for me.

As I say, with Anderson, I just hope you guys are right and me being underwhelmed for the price point is down to not seeing his best performances.
 
We should be targeting the best players in the PL. So he fits the bill, upto the negotiators to get the value down. I don't think we are in the position to spend 100m on one player though. It's just too much pressure on the player.
 
Fortitude said:
Caicedo had the It-factor for me and you could see that not only was he shining then, but that he has more gears to go up. I was fanboying in his transfer threads because he was an exceptional player in the making for me.

As I say, with Anderson, I just hope you guys are right and me being underwhelmed for the price point is down to not seeing his best performances.
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I agree. There has been three midfielders in the PL since 2020 I have been really fan of wanted us to sign for big money; Rice, Caicedo and Mac Allister.

Now also Anderson and/or probably Tonali.
 
Fact is that the CM budget is there, we actively pursued Baleba 4 months ago and knew about his ~100M evaluation. Gladly we dodged the bullet, but it is there.
Fact also is, that Mbeumo and Cunha came from the Prem and do work well, while Sesko, who came from Germany has the expected issues. No chance we should go for Stiller or someone from a different league in such key position, especially this season where the gap between the Premier league and all other ones seems to be even bigger (a complete shit liverpool trashed Leverkusen etc.)
 
Tallis said:
I am very skeptical about the 100m price. I think he is like a 60-70 player.

- He is below average for CMs in goal contributions.

- He is good defensively but below the elite players

- Passing is good but not elite

- Best part of his game is probably carries and take-ons.

While he is a good all round CM, he is not elite in creativity or in stopping the opposition. For comparisons to Rice or Caicedo. Rice is 94% for NP Goals and 95% for assists. Caicedo has 93% pass completion and 75% progressive passing and is genuinely elite as a DM.

Overall a good solid CM who will improve us significantly but not deserving of 100m price tag.
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Anderson makes more passes, they tend to be longer passes and he covers considerably more distance in total. He has more touches of the ball than any other midfielder, and the most ball recoveries. He's a proper all rounder and a leader. I've been impressed with what he's brought to the England team. Different kind of player but he's got that all round ability that Keane had. He fits the profile for us, I think he'd be an excellent signing.
 
giggs-beckham said:
£80+10m? Is too much?
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It is a lot of money, but a big chunk of that money is also going towards the player he can become. He has not reached his limit, so we are not just paying that money for the player he is now, but the one that is going to improve. Right now, I don't think he is far off that amount, actually, so in a few years, I would imagine most fans could not care less about the money we paid for him. He already is one of the best centre midfielders in PL at the age of 23, and he is a very, very good all-round midfielder that can do everything to a high level.

He is a tricky one when watching him, because he doesn't really stand out at an elite level in anything - maybe his driving runs forward, but he has all the tools to become elite, and he actually shares a similar set of skills to Rice. I see him as the ultimate CM signing for us when you look at the options available in the market these days. There are others I like; Kouadio Koné, Khephren Thuram, Morten Hjulmand, but all of them have some weaknesses that you don't easily get away with in Premier League, and Anderson has it all. A very complete CM, and I would be absolutely thrilled if we signed him.
 
Fortitude said:
I think I need to see a lot more of him because he doesn’t impress me to the extent of being some marquee signing and he’s miles off what Caicedo was, which prompted the bidding war. Not sure he even looks like Rice’s level before he moved.

Wharton’s fitness is starting to become a worry, however.

If we do land him, I hope you guys singing his praises are spot on because he feels overrated to me at the moment.
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This season, he is not miles off at all. This season.
 
The way I see it better to pay the price for a top talent than to compromise.

Example albeit in a different position. VVD at Southampton, £70mil and at the time a world record for a CB. Pay that or buy 2 x CB i.e. lindelof and Bailly for a combined £70mil.

If Anderson is that good, then pay the price and secure one of our starting CM slots for the next decade.
 
Fortitude said:
Caicedo had the It-factor for me and you could see that not only was he shining then, but that he has more gears to go up. I was fanboying in his transfer threads because he was an exceptional player in the making for me.

As I say, with Anderson, I just hope you guys are right and me being underwhelmed for the price point is down to not seeing his best performances.
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Not that it offers much insight now, but I watched him as a 19 year old when he came on loan to Bristol Rovers, he pretty much took Rovers from midtable to promotion in 6 months. You could see even as a teenager he was head and shoulders above the players around him regardless of age. I've followed him ever since and will admit to being a bit of a fanboy about him. But the lad is pure class and bursting with effort. He'd be a top buy and would instantly improve any club. His constant effort and pure love of the game remind me of Rooney, he just loves playing football.
 
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Is the next best English midfielder. It's obvious. Areas to his game where he can improve but he's comfortable at the "weight" (level) and impresses you in most matches without a drop off from top team to relegation fodder in performance.

Worth anything up to 100m if that's the price Rice went for. I rate him higher which some will think insane, but I mean considering where he his now compared to Rice about four years or so ago, and overall style of play, so that fee is the barometer here imo.
 
Trigestis said:
It is a lot of money, but a big chunk of that money is also going towards the player he can become. He has not reached his limit, so we are not just paying that money for the player he is now, but the one that is going to improve. Right now, I don't think he is far off that amount, actually, so in a few years, I would imagine most fans could not care less about the money we paid for him. He already is one of the best centre midfielders in PL at the age of 23, and he is a very, very good all-round midfielder that can do everything to a high level.

He is a tricky one when watching him, because he doesn't really stand out at an elite level in anything - maybe his driving runs forward, but he has all the tools to become elite, and he actually shares a similar set of skills to Rice. I see him as the ultimate CM signing for us when you look at the options available in the market these days. There are others I like; Kouadio Koné, Khephren Thuram, Morten Hjulmand, but all of them have some weaknesses that you don't easily get away with in Premier League, and Anderson has it all. A very complete CM, and I would be absolutely thrilled if we signed him.
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Yea ive said before he looks a United player to me.
 
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