Elliot Anderson has been a standout signing for Nottingham Forest, but the deal to sign the midfielder from Newcastle United almost fell through.
Anderson signed for Forest from Newcastle in the summer transfer window, with the deal always seeming more of a necessity to sell for the Magpies as a result of their PSR position.
This was reflected recently when Anderson revealed he didn’t expect to be leaving Newcastle after starting to claim a spot in their first team but Evangelos Marinakis spotted the opportunity and took it to full effect.
Since his arrival, Anderson has not looked back, establishing himself as an undroppable member of the Forest squad having appeared in all 25 Premier League games this season, scoring once and providing five assists as well.
Dion Dublin believes Anderson deserves an England call-up for how seamlessly he has adapted to life at the City Ground which is hard to argue with, especially when learning about how turbulent the deal-making process was for the two clubs involved.
The transfer of Elliot Anderson to Nottingham Forest almost collapsed
Immediately, Anderson was struck by the calmness of Nuno Espirito Santo but nothing was calm about the negotiations between Newcastle and Forest for Anderson, with the deal needing to be done before the June deadline for PSR calculations.
In a new report by The Athletic, it’s been revealed how close Anderson was to staying at St James Park as issues with the deal persisted with mere hours left before the deadline.
The report said: “Minutes before the deadline, there was a concrete possibility that the deal would fall through.
‘Conversations were held at ownership level to hasten the process, with Jamie Reuben and Evangelos Marinakis locked in discussions, alongside Newcastle CEO Darren Eales and Anderson’s agent, David Manasseh.
“Newcastle had initially wanted [Anthony] Elanga to go the other way as part of the deal, but Forest were reluctant to sell — a decision justified by the winger’s excellent season — and the two sides could not agree a fee. Instead, Newcastle had to settle for [Odysseas] Vlachodimos, having held far less of an interest in the goalkeeper.”
Newcastle were interested in Elanga throughout the window so keeping hold of him was already a success for Marinakis, but convincing Newcastle to then take Vlachodimos instead to keep the Anderson deal alive was a masterstroke from the Forest owner.
Clearly, the Magpies lost out on a brilliant midfielder in Anderson so the deal was already bad enough, but seeing how Vlachodimos has got on at St James’ Park makes the exchange even more difficult for Newcastle fans to take.
Odysseas Vlachodimos has struggled at Newcastle United
Vlachodimos never earned a starting spot at Forest so losing him to gain Anderson was a deal that made perfect sense for one side of the negotiation table at least given.
There were even talks in August that Vlachodimos may leave Newcastle on loan but whilst that never happened, the stats make for grim reading given that Newcastle paid £20m for Vlachodimos.
The Greek international has only made one appearance for Newcastle, in a Carabao Cup clash with AFC Wimbledon which only came about due to an injury to Martin Dubravka.
Newcastle media gave Vlachodimos a 6/10 against Wimbledon which showed his debut performance was at least steady, but in no way did it convince Eddie Howe of his ability to overthrow either Dubravka or Nick Pope.
Dubravka was actually expected to leave Tyneside but has instead signed a new contract with the club, further alienating Vlachodimos from the chance of a start.
Forest travel to Newcastle on Sunday in what will be a homecoming for Anderson, but don’t expect to see the player that Forest sent the other way appear in any capacity.
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