dpManchester City have agreed a £116million ($153m) deal to sign Elliot Anderson from Nottingham Forest.
The fee — a fixed figure with no add-ons — will be the most ever paid for a British player and represents a new record for City, eclipsing the £100m they paid Aston Villa for Jack Grealish in 2021.
The England international is set to sign a five-year contract at City which, if all bonuses are realised, will be worth in the region of £300,000 per week. The deal will include an option to extend his stay by a further 12 months.
Anderson, 23, has been given permission to undertake a medical in New York on Friday. The player is currently with the England squad, who play at New York/New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium on Saturday, at the World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Forest had previously been looking for the fixed fee of any sale to be higher than the £125m ($165m) British record Liverpool paid Newcastle United for Alexander Isak last summer.
This comes after The Athletic revealed on June 10 that City had made a verbal offer for the midfielder worth £106m ($140m) up front, an approach that followed an opening offer being rejected earlier in the month.
Why Man City want Elliot Anderson (and how Tuchel will use him)
JJ Bull
Anderson joined Forest from Newcastle in a £35m deal in 2023, which saw Odysseas Vlachodimos go the other way and valued the England international at £15m ($19.7m).
Since then, Anderson has made 92 appearances for Forest, including featuring in every league game during the 2025-26 season while providing four goals and four assists.
Anderson, who made his England debut in September, has started both of his country’s World Cup games against Croatia and Ghana and is likely to do so again against Panama on Saturday.
The Athletic reported earlier this week that Forest had identified 20-year-old Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Lucas Bergvall as a potential replacement for Anderson.
‘The greatest piece of transfer business in Forest history’
Analysis by senior writer Daniel Taylor
It is, quite simply, the greatest piece of transfer business in the history of Nottingham Forest.
This is the club that bought a young Roy Keane from Irish club Cobh Ramblers for £47,000 and later sold him to Manchester United in a British record transfer of £3.75m.
Even so, just consider the background of Anderson’s £116m move to Manchester City.
Here is a player who was first spotted by Forest while he was on loan from Newcastle, aged 19, at Bristol Rovers, then of League Two.
He was valued at a mere £15m when Forest somehow conjured up a transfer package with Newcastle United that took the club’s third-choice goalkeeper, Odysseas Vlachodimos, to St James’ Park with a valuation of around £20m (an incredible deal on its own).
And now, two seasons on, Anderson has gone for a profit of more than £100m.
He will go with the best wishes of everyone at the City Ground after playing superbly in Forest’s colours and, at the same time, establishing himself as a regular England international.
The profit, meanwhile, should help Forest in their pursuit of Bergvall from Spurs, having targeted him as the player they want to take Anderson’s place in midfield. Other signings will inevitably follow.
It will be difficult, of course, to replace a player of Anderson’s gifts. If Forest use the money wisely, however, the team can end up stronger for it. The whole club can be, in fact.
Why has Anderson been so sought after?
Analysis by data and tactics writer Anantaajith Raghuraman
Anderson is emblematic of the modern Premier League midfielder.
He can progress play in multiple ways. His 2.8 take-ons per 90 ranked second among Premier League central and defensive midfielders (minimum 1,000 minutes) behind Tijjani Reijnders. Only three managed more passes into the opposition half than his 8.3 per 90.
Anderson took 14 per cent of Forest’s total Premier League touches in 2025-26, a higher share than any other player. The volume did not overwhelm him. He was press-resistant, often picked the right pass and was a threat in the final third, recording four goals and four assists.
Out of possession, Anderson offers tenacity and athleticism. He can push ahead and meet man-marking demands but also track back at pace to protect his defence. He blocked 1.4 opposition passes per 90, knowing when to pounce to cut out moves.
Why did City want him so badly?
Analysis by Manchester City correspondent Sam Lee
City are generally always in the market for top, English talent for obvious reasons, including homegrown regulations and the fact they are generally proven in the Premier League.
Anderson evidently fits that bill and is seen as the replacement for Bernardo Silva. Having made more touches than anybody else in the Premier League last season, for a side in Forest who are not heavy on possession, it shows how involved and influential he likes to be. He also showed with his fine goal at City in a 2-2 draw in March that he has the class required.
City have had some problems in recent years when trying to recruit players no better than their established stars, for example, buying Kalvin Phillips and Nico Gonzalez who have, to different extents, not been the relatively cheap alternative that City were hoping for.
But with Bernardo gone, City have aimed for a top talent capable of going straight into the team and Anderson ticks a lot of boxes.
