How Elliot Anderson becomes an ‘absolute bargain’ at £125m-plus - with Man City mulling over British record transfer deal for Nottingham Forest & England midfielder

Fees have been on the rise for some time, with Neymar’s historic €222m (£192m/$258m) move from Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain blowing the lid off an inflated market during the summer of 2017.

Nine-figure deals have become increasingly common since then, with several stars in the Premier League - including Jack Grealish, Declan Rice, Enzo Fernandez and Florian Wirtz ticking that box. Swedish striker Alexander Isak, who left Newcastle for Liverpool in 2025, remains the most elaborate purchase of all in English football.

That bar may be raised over the coming weeks, with Anderson continuing to generate plenty of speculation. After two impressive seasons at the City Ground, which allowed him to become a senior international on World Cup duty, the Tyneside native’s stock has never been higher.

City, as they enter the post-Pep Guardiola era, are reportedly prepared to spend big on another player that can both win the ball and manipulate it in possession. They will likely have to eclipse the terms of Isak switch to Anfield in order to get signatures on a contract.

Quizzed on whether such figures can ever be considered to represent “value”, as cash is thrown around like Monopoly money, ex-Forest and England striker Collymore - speaking in association with BetWright football betting - told GOAL: “I think Saudi is now slightly rowing back. I know that [Cristiano] Ronaldo's got another contract, and Ronaldo's slightly different because it's a global brand. But I think that the Saudis have realised that with LIV Golf, for example, just throwing money at anything doesn't mean it's going to be an automatic success.

“So it'll be very interesting to see how their relationship with Newcastle United develops, especially because Newcastle United, like Forest and like Villa, have had PSR issues, compliance issues. They can't just knock the doors down and spend whatever they like.

“I think that Abu Dhabi, Saudi, United States venture capitalists, Todd Boehly - I’ve been out in the States now for a week, and I come to the States annually, and I cannot believe on this trip how expensive it is.

“We've had the debate about ticket prices. People will pay 10,000, 30,000, 50,000 to watch the New York Knicks NBA playoffs, just at the drop of a hat. So I don't think there's any value in anything.

“So all of a sudden, if you're Manchester City and you're looking to completely revolutionise the club, to be perfectly honest, it's small change for Abu Dhabi. So do I think Elliot Anderson is worth the kind of money to recruit him at his age? For 10 years, absolutely.

“And I think that if it was £120 million, look at Declan Rice - bargain is relative, but in a football sense if you win the Premier League and you haven't won it for 20 years, and you're a club the size of Arsenal, £100 million is nothing. And I think that Elliot Anderson will prove to be the same kind of value.

“So I think it's a bit funny, yes. Makes it very difficult for other clubs to compete. Look at Unai Emery, Aston Villa utilising six or seven or eight players that have played in the championship under Dean Smith or a player that we had on a free, Ross Barkley.

“The point I'm making is that Elliot Anderson represents value for money in the market today because if Manchester City have him for 10 years and he wins five Premier Leagues, then it's an absolute bargain.”

Forest have been standing firm in protracted negotiations, with enigmatic Greek owner Evangelos Marinakis not a man that will bow under pressure. Either his demands are met or no deal for a player tied to a contract on Trentside through to 2029 will be done.

City continue to work on satisfying those requests, with add-ons being factored into any transfer equation, and will be eager to reach a compromise before Anderson’s price tag is bumped up again while on World Cup duty - with England set to open their quest for global glory against Croatia on Wednesday.