The sale of Anthony Elanga will have stung Nottingham Forest, but Simon Jordan is more concerned about where the club goes next in the transfer market.
Newcastle United have reportedly paid a £55m upfront fee for Elanga, with a potential to reach £60m with add-ons, but it is suggested that Newcastle may never pay the Elanga add-ons even if he stars for them.
Forest fans have mixed feelings about losing Elanga, with his impact on Nuno Espírito Santo’s side last season being weighed up against the huge profit made from the transfer fee.
The profit could see Forest make a move for Johan Bakayoko, but Jordan is wary of the potential cost of selling and replacing players in a successful squad.
Simon Jordan raises concerns about Nottingham Forest replacing Anthony Elanga
Forest already wanted two wingers before losing Elanga, so there will be targets in place for Edu to explore as immediate replacements for the right wing role.
However, speaking to talkSPORT, Jordan raised doubts about the process of buying and selling top stars, adding a level of sympathy for Forest about seeing key cogs in Nuno’s squad being prised away.
He said: “I feel a bit sorry for Nottingham Forest, because the rewards of Nottingham Forest are that they’re going to get cherry-picked by sides that are perhaps in a slightly better position than they are.
“Whilst they get a big profit on the player, it’s only good if you’re going to reinvest it back into the playing squad. If you suddenly make yourself worse and you fall five places down the league, you haven’t made so much profit.”
Jordan’s point about falling down the league is particularly relevant to Forest as Elanga and the squad’s brilliant season led to European qualification, so if his replacement isn’t able to help the club qualify once again, the profit made on the sale may not feel as lucrative.
Therefore, Edu and the recruitment staff will be under intense pressure to use the Elanga money wisely, with options flying around already.
Edu must get the Anthony Elanga replacement right
Forest fans were excited about the Bakayoko links as the Belgian boasts very similar attributes to Elanga, as well as a better goalscoring record.
It makes sense that Espírito Santo would want a similar profile to the Swede, but there’s never a guarantee that Elanga’s remarkable season could be replaced, even by himself.
Elanga himself went through spells of ineffectiveness towards the end of last season, so finding consistency in a signing similar to Elanga might be a task that the £55m cannot even solve.
Very few wingers in world football are able to produce consistently, so finding an Elanga replica will be a monumental task for Edu, to the point where spending on a couple of attackers who could replace Elanga’s numbers between them might end up being the best solution.
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