Elliot Anderson | Athletic: United's main target

He is my no 1 target for the summer. Annoyingly, I have a feeling this will be a long transfer saga for various reasons.

1. Forrest - the owner is a bit of a T*** and will want a bidding war due to his demand, 3 clubs looking for a CM - Liverpool, City, Manutd
2. World Cup - There will be the usual saga.... "No decision until world cup", there will be reports he wants to focus on the WC... then he will go on holiday. If England do well, his price will go up because he was part of the team.
3. Manager - We dont know who our manager is to pitch our project to him.

We need the CM like we did with Cunha last season, In June, so we know what budgets we are playing with, leaving our main CM signing till around August is not ideal.

Therefore; I feel we may need to find someone else cheaper first.
 
devilish said:
Anderson is a 23 year old CM with just 1 amazing season under his belt. He's basically this year's Baleba. Sure he's got immense potential but that potential must be developed. We can't buy potential at the same going rate of a seasoned WC player.

The budget is what it is and there's simply too many positions to fill to just spend 100m on 1 CM.
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He was quality the season before as well, plenty were saying we shouldve signed him then. Hes actually shown he can build on a really good first season and move to an outstanding one. Baleba went the other way
 
Anderson should clearly be the top midfield target and Diomande should be the top target for the wing
 
Would be amazing to lock this down early if possible, but I don't have high expectations on that front.

Hopefully the club has a solid plan lined up for the midfield for this summer, because we need at the very least two signings, and that means we probably need to have 3-4 targets lined up. It's an area of the field where we cannot mess up the window - might as well bin next season if we don't sort it out.
 
AngeloHenriquez said:
I'd prefer to speak to WH about Bowen if they go down, he's proved he can do it in the league.
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I think Summerville has been better for them recently, to be honest. Bowen is 29 as well, not really the age you want to be buying a winger.
 
AngeloHenriquez said:
I'd prefer to speak to WH about Bowen if they go down, he's proved he can do it in the league.
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That literally makes no sense we have Amad and Mbeumo already we are looking for natural left winger why would you ignore that and add another right winger .
 
Ish said:
Hasn’t he been playing mostly on the right over the last few years - with the odd appearance up top (very similar to Mbeumo)?
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Yeah - solid PL player that's good for a goal but the wrong profile we should be looking for. If he played on the LW, it would be a shrewd signing.
 
saivet said:
Yeah - solid PL player that's good for a goal but the wrong profile we should be looking for. If he played on the LW, it would be a shrewd signing.
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Yeah agreed. Haven’t watched a lot of him in fairness but if WHU were going down, would that midfielder M Fernandes be worth a shout?
 
Ish said:
Yeah agreed. Haven’t watched a lot of him in fairness but if WHU were going down, would that midfielder M Fernandes be worth a shout?
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Next year Anderson saga if he doesn't get snapped in this summer itself by one of the top Clubs has all the tools to be excellent all round midfielder .
 
Pascal Quiff said:
Very underrated player. He'd also be my pick for us, should the Saudis come in for Salah this Summer
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He would be a great replacement there as he plays for the team and his form has been pretty solid for years.

Lash said:
I think Summerville has been better for them recently, to be honest. Bowen is 29 as well, not really the age you want to be buying a winger.
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Mike Smalling said:
Yeah, another left-footed player predominantly playing on the right is exactly what we need.
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gajender said:
That literally makes no sense we have Amad and Mbeumo already we are looking for natural left winger why would you ignore that and add another right winger .
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Ish said:
Hasn’t he been playing mostly on the right over the last few years - with the odd appearance up top (very similar to Mbeumo)?
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What made Dorgu look great for me with Amad on the right was the fact he was left footed, I would love a left footed left winger to balance the inversion on the right wing and I think Bowen is intelligent enough to play off the left, my dream would be Yildiz from Juventus but I wondered if Bowen would be available for a good price if they did get relegated is all, didn't realise he was 29 though, thought he was about 26 so that does change things but he isn't someone who relies on pace.
 
AngeloHenriquez said:
He would be a great replacement there as he plays for the team and his form has been pretty solid for years.









What made Dorgu look great for me with Amad on the right was the fact he was left footed, I would love a left footed left winger to balance the inversion on the right wing and I think Bowen is intelligent enough to play off the left, my dream would be Yildiz from Juventus but I wondered if Bowen would be available for a good price if they did get relegated is all, didn't realise he was 29 though, thought he was about 26 so that does change things but he isn't someone who relies on pace.
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Agree on Yildiz if money isn't an option. He can also play centrally too, which gives that interchangability. I would prefer we didn't spend a big portion of the budget on a LW, just because I think CM is going to set us back so much and I don't want to skimp there if possible. I'd like to see us take a gamble on someone like Bazoumana Toure or Said El Mala or someone outside of the obvious expensive talents.
 
Absolutely vital that we get Champions League because there will be no good reason for this kid to settle for a Europa League/Conference League club when many Champions League clubs will be in for him.

Even if we do, I think he's more likely to pick City based on football factors. I think we'll need to offer him massive wages to get him to choose us.

And I hope we do. He's the player this summer who is worth overspending on.
 
devilish said:
Forest bought him in 2024 and while he was good in the 2024-2025 season he wasn't as good as he is this season
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He was class last season. Improved on that this season. That's great, isn't it?
 
Todd said:
Absolutely vital that we get Champions League because there will be no good reason for this kid to settle for a Europa League/Conference League club when many Champions League clubs will be in for him.

Even if we do, I think he's more likely to pick City based on football factors. I think we'll need to offer him massive wages to get him to choose us.

And I hope we do. He's the player this summer who is worth overspending on.
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Perhaps Carrick staying on is our only hope what with the Geordie connection and that
 
Todd said:
Absolutely vital that we get Champions League because there will be no good reason for this kid to settle for a Europa League/Conference League club when many Champions League clubs will be in for him.

Even if we do, I think he's more likely to pick City based on football factors. I think we'll need to offer him massive wages to get him to choose us.

And I hope we do. He's the player this summer who is worth overspending on.
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The current group running united no longer is giving out massive wages, it's gotten us into so many problems and we need to avoid it.
 
Hammondo said:
The current group running united no longer is giving out massive wages, it's gotten us into so many problems and we need to avoid it.
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Yeah, but I think this is one of those things where 75% of the time it's good, sound business and 25% of the time it's shooting yourself in the foot.

For example, let's say Lamine Yamal or Vitinha or Haaland were to become available and were willing to sign for us for 20% higher wages than what other clubs were offering; do you pay that premium, or do you stick to your new policy of not overpaying for players?

When you're talking about the chance to sign generational talent, I think you have to do that.

We should have taken this approach when Declan Rice became available, and I think we'd be crazy to not do whatever is necessary to sign Anderson, because he has the look of generational talent. Anderson and Mainoo together is our midfield sorted for the next decade.
 
Hopefully we'll get this one over the line, look at how Rice joining Arsenal helped bring them on a bit further.

Knowing us though we'll let him go to Liverpool and spend 80m plus on a lesser player like Baleba.
 
Todd said:
Yeah, but I think this is one of those things where 75% of the time it's good, sound business and 25% of the time it's shooting yourself in the foot.

For example, let's say Lamine Yamal or Vitinha or Haaland were to become available and were willing to sign for us for 20% higher wages than what other clubs were offering; do you pay that premium, or do you stick to your new policy of not overpaying for players?

When you're talking about the chance to sign generational talent, I think you have to do that.

We should have taken this approach when Declan Rice became available, and I think we'd be crazy to not do whatever is necessary to sign Anderson, because he has the look of generational talent. Anderson and Mainoo together is our midfield sorted for the next decade.
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Anderson isn't a generational talent and nor was Rice . Pretty good players but hyperbole is getting out of hand .
 
Lennon7 said:
Perhaps Carrick staying on is our only hope what with the Geordie connection and that
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I think if we were to get Tuchel (who trusted Anderson to start in the qualifiers, started his full England career etc) or even Enrique, then we'd have just as good a chance to get him. Get someone else in, like Glasner / Emery then I don't think it will have the same pulling power should the likes of City come in
 
Todd said:
Yeah, but I think this is one of those things where 75% of the time it's good, sound business and 25% of the time it's shooting yourself in the foot.

For example, let's say Lamine Yamal or Vitinha or Haaland were to become available and were willing to sign for us for 20% higher wages than what other clubs were offering; do you pay that premium, or do you stick to your new policy of not overpaying for players?

When you're talking about the chance to sign generational talent, I think you have to do that.

We should have taken this approach when Declan Rice became available, and I think we'd be crazy to not do whatever is necessary to sign Anderson, because he has the look of generational talent. Anderson and Mainoo together is our midfield sorted for the next decade.
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I would say 80% of the time it's shooting yourself in the foot.

And in no way has it been proven he's a generational talent, we are taking a risk.
 
Im sure it has been mentioned before, but the Carrick and Anderson connection, having both played their youth football at Wallsend Boys Club, shouldn't be ignored.

Sometime the stars line up perfectly!
 
Lash said:
Agree on Yildiz if money isn't an option. He can also play centrally too, which gives that interchangability. I would prefer we didn't spend a big portion of the budget on a LW, just because I think CM is going to set us back so much and I don't want to skimp there if possible. I'd like to see us take a gamble on someone like Bazoumana Toure or Said El Mala or someone outside of the obvious expensive talents.
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If we go down the gamble route I’d like us to look at Mateus Mane from Wolves who’s from Stockport and should be gettable at a good price with their impending relegation.
 
Personally I think Anderson will go to City. City desperately need more legs in midfield. I think they will ship Bernado and bring in Anderson beside Rodri. Cherki will be AM
 
Foolsgold21 said:
Really? Arsenal can’t spend big on yet another midfielder surely?!

Liverpool have their starting 3 from last season plus trying to shoe horn Wirtz in as a 10. So no guarantee of a starting place there.
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I’m pretty sure arsenal will. If there is one weakness in their squad atm it’s that they could possibly cope with one of Rice and Zubimendi picking up a long term injury but certainly not both. Plus they rely on those two to basically play every game at the moment. I think they’ll look to sign someone where the drop off wouldn’t be very noticeable to rotate with those two. Just the other day there was some agent links with them and Tonali and it wouldn’t surprise me at all if they go for him or another top midfielder.

As for Liverpool I think both McAllister and Gravenberch have not performed as good this season. Can see them doing some tweaks there really. Also I wouldn’t rule out them selling McAllister to maybe Real Madrid either if they do.
 
Ghostrider318 said:
Personally I think Anderson will go to City. City desperately need more legs in midfield. I think they will ship Bernado and bring in Anderson beside Rodri. Cherki will be AM
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They've got Rodrigo, Reindeers and Nico Gonzalez . . . we'll have Mainoo and Ugarte (maybe). I think we're wayyy more desperate than City and a much easier opportunity for Anderson to move into the starting spot one time
 
Todd said:
Yeah, but I think this is one of those things where 75% of the time it's good, sound business and 25% of the time it's shooting yourself in the foot.

For example, let's say Lamine Yamal or Vitinha or Haaland were to become available and were willing to sign for us for 20% higher wages than what other clubs were offering; do you pay that premium, or do you stick to your new policy of not overpaying for players?

When you're talking about the chance to sign generational talent, I think you have to do that.

We should have taken this approach when Declan Rice became available, and I think we'd be crazy to not do whatever is necessary to sign Anderson, because he has the look of generational talent. Anderson and Mainoo together is our midfield sorted for the next decade.
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Anderson is ideal to take Mainoo's spot. Something like Baleba (for Casemiro), Anderson, Bruno with Mainoo on the bench.
 
surf said:
Anderson is ideal to take Mainoo's spot. Something like Baleba (for Casemiro), Anderson, Bruno with Mainoo on the bench.
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That would be an insane midfield 3. And with mainoo aswell. All depends if Bruno is staying or not though.
 
daba said:
If we go down the gamble route I’d like us to look at Mateus Mane from Wolves who’s from Stockport and should be gettable at a good price with their impending relegation.
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Ah yes, forgot about him. Plus we must have a half decent relationships after the Cunha transfer.
 
daba said:
If we go down the gamble route I’d like us to look at Mateus Mane from Wolves who’s from Stockport and should be gettable at a good price with their impending relegation.
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What is Mane’s best position?
 
AkaAkuma said:
I read somewhere that Scott and Anderson are good friends, perhaps formed in England youth teams.
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lovely jubbly

rumours of Goretzka too - would be nice as a 4th MC - experienced, professional etc
 
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