Two years ago, Elliott Anderson moved from Newcastle United to Nottingham Forest for a fee reported between £15M and £35M. Now, Forest’s owner wants somewhere in the neighborhood of £110M to £125M to let him go.
Manchester United finds itself in an increasingly uncomfortable position as it tries to pry Anderson away from the City Ground this summer. Evangelos Marinakis, Forest’s Greek shipping magnate owner, has proven far more difficult to negotiate with than either Manchester club anticipated.
The bidding war nobody expected
Manchester City moved first. Their opening bid was rejected outright. A second offer, reportedly worth £106M plus £15M in potential add-ons, met the same fate. In English: City put roughly £121M on the table in total potential value, and Marinakis still said no.
Marinakis has made his position clear. He wants a club-record fee, and he’s targeting the £110M to £125M range in guaranteed money, not a package padded with performance bonuses that may never materialize.
