British record transfer on Elliott Anderson: Why are Manchester City investing £116m?
Manchester City are ready to pay £116m for British transfer record-breaker Elliott Anderson. An analysis of his impressive impact at Forest, stats, and his fit with Enzo Maresca's style.
Manchester City confirmed on Thursday that they had agreed a record £116million transfer deal for Nottingham Forest midfielder Elliott Anderson. Once his journey in the World Cup is over, all formalities will be over. This makes Anderson the most expensive player in British football history — surpassing the £105 million mark Arsenal paid for Declan Rice three years ago.
The stats bear witness to his value to Forest. Anderson, 23, who joined the City Ground from Newcastle for £35million in 2024, has emerged as one of the Premier League's most integral central midfielders over the past season. Although Forrest finished 16th, his individual impact was extraordinary. A league-high 3,300 touches in the 2025–26 season, 298 duels won, 306 turnovers, 80 fouls won — all of which make his end-to-end inclusion clear. The quality of the passing was similar: Forest led the attack with 2,038 successful passes, the most of any central midfielder, with 376 line-breaking passes.
He is the foremost in physical dimensions. A total of 411 kilometers were covered, with high-intensity pressures reaching 1,895. Starting team in 37 out of 38 league matches; He only started on the bench during heavy rotation ahead of the Europa League semifinal in early May. Forest changed four coaches last season, moving more towards transitional football — although Anderson topped the defensive categories and led the way in progressive passes. His contribution on the attacking side was also noteworthy: 4 goals, 4 assists; Created 54 chances and set up 9 big chances; Expected Assists 4.8.
He has been consistent on the international stage as well, starting every match under Thomas Tuchel at the World Cup. Discipline, agility, ability to cover space without the ball — all make him a rare midfield package. That's why the city is ready to invest this level, the statistics say.
It was a historic sale for Forest. Their old record was when they left Anthony Elanga to Newcastle for £55m last summer. Joined in 2024, Anderson made 94 appearances for Forest in all competitions and scored 6 goals. The outpouring of sympathy from across the club following the death of his mother Helen in April reflected the respect he felt for him. Although his high demands — on himself, on his teammates — left him exhausted at times, Forest saw him as capable of becoming a 'complete player'. With his departure, Forest are looking to fill the gap with a deep-lying midfielder and two in the number-eight position. Inter Milan's Davide Frattesi is an option, while Juventus and Roma are also interested. Forest are also looking at Tatnam's young midfielder Lucas Bergwall; He is ready to leave Spurs due to the lack of opportunities, with aspirations to play as a number-six.
And for City, this is the first big signing since Enzo Maresca took over in the post-Pep Guardiola era. City have agreed a compensation deal with the Blues to bring back Maresca, who left Chelsea in the New Year, less than six months after the club won the World Cup. Maresca now needs to build on the foundation Guardiola laid with six Premier League titles, three FA Cups, five Carabao Cups and one Champions League during his decade.
Maresca is the heart of the midfield in style. Winning the ball high and playing forward immediately were the main tenets of his system at Chelsea. Moises Caicedo was the defensive reference, while Enzo Fernandez led the Audi press further up the pitch. Caicido won 318 duels while winning the ball 315 times in the process; Fernandez shined with 3,569 touches, 2,306 passes, 1,619 high-intensity pressures. Both are also tops in line-breaking passes (Fernandez 313, Caicedo 382) — a category Anderson bested last season. In terms of distance covered, Fernandes covered 554 km, Caicedo covered 506 km in 18 months, while Anderson covered 411 km in a single season. ran Anderson also leads in touches (3,300) even excluding the final stages of their five-month stretch.
If the squad comes fit, Anderson is being looked at as a replacement for captain Bernardo Silva who left City. While there is a possibility of partnering Rodry in midfield, the Spain captain could be paired with someone else after the World Cup with reports of him undergoing surgery after the World Cup. City are also eyeing Moroccan midfielder Ayoub Bouaddy. All in all, it can be said that Anderson is set to be the 'poster boy' for the new era of Maresca.
In 1979 Forest set a British transfer record by bringing in Trevor Francis from Birmingham to become the first million pound player. This time, however, it was Forest who became the biggest fee earner in history with Anderson. City now want Andersen to match the £115m Real Madrid paid for Jude Bellingham. If Forest can repeat his performances at this level at City, this record fee will soon seem natural.