How Nottingham Forest could miss out on Anthony Elanga payment as “no guarantee” claim made

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Anthony Elanga’s move to Newcastle United is nearing official confirmation, but the club might not necessarily be happy with the financial structure of the deal.

After extensive negotiations, Elanga will sign for Newcastle and become Forest’s new record sale, hopefully giving Nuno Espírito Santo enough money to find an adequate replacement.

Nottingham Forest News revealed that Forest are interested in Johan Bakayoko and Harvey Elliott as the Elanga succession plan kicks into gear, with Evangelos Marinakis faced with a decision as to how much of the reported £55m upfront fee goes into a right-winger.

Every penny will count, given that replacing Elanga isn’t the only task this window, which will make a new report on the structure of the add-ons in the sale of the Swede particularly frustrating.

Newcastle United’s payment structure for Anthony Elanga revealed

Forest demanded £60m for Elanga throughout the process, eventually settling for a deal that would reportedly see the extra £5m paid in some form of add-ons.

These could be triggered by individual performances or the performance of Newcastle collectively, but according to the Northern Echo, they may not be triggered at all.

The report said: “An up-front payment of £52m is more than they were offering last summer, but that reflects the extent to which Elanga progressed with Forest last season. With another successful season under his belt, senior Magpies sources claim they are signing a better player than the one they were pursuing 12 months ago.

“A number of add-ons have been included in the deal, but they are not particularly expensive, and even if Elanga does extremely well in a Newcastle shirt, there is no guarantee they will be triggered.”

While not a significant portion of the fee, Marinakis held firm in his £60m valuation of Elanga, so to hear that the add-ons are unlikely even to be triggered must be frustrating.

It remains to be seen what would actually trigger the add-ons, but it seems unlikely to be goals given the plans that Eddie Howe seems to have for Elanga’s position.

Newcastle see Anthony Elanga as a potential striker solution

Elanga’s 11 Premier League assists last season will have undoubtedly been a key component to Newcastle’s renewed interest in the Swede, but the report also suggested that Elanga could provide a central option too.

The report continued: “He’s versatile. For all that he has made the vast majority of his Forest appearances as a right-sided forward, he has also briefly played on the left and as a central striker.

“Howe primarily wants Elanga to play on the right of the front three in his preferred 4-3-3 formation. But given that is far from certain that Newcastle will be able to recruit an out-and-out centre-forward to replace Callum Wilson this summer, signing a player who could move around the front three makes a lot of sense.”

While true that Elanga has played centrally for Forest in the past, there’s no doubt that he performs better from the right. It will be interesting to observe whether Howe can turn the 23-year-old into a greater goalscoring threat to truly succeed centrally.