Newcastle United turned down Elliot Anderson bid from Premier League rival before summer shock

Eddie Howe reluctantly said goodbye to Elliot Anderson last summer after a £35million exit was forced through against his initial wishes

Elliot Anderson turned down the chance to sign for Wolverhampton Wanderers last June, expecting Newcastle United to brush off any approaches from clubs attempting to take advantage of the Magpies’ PSR vulnerability.

The enquiry from the Molineux side was also knocked back by Newcastle as Anderson began to focus on pre-season at Benton, but even he was left shocked by what would happen next.

For it quickly became apparent that despite Eddie Howe making it clear that he did not want to sell the Whitley Bay lad that he was the prized asset during a frantic June in which the club had to sell him to avoid a points deduction, something that has since been stood up by Paul Mitchell at the STACK fan event last year.

Anderson was part of the club’s future plans and when the club submitted a list of players available to appear on an Adidas advert for the club’s new away kit, the former Academy star boy was on it. In the end, the shots of Anderson were reduced on the advert when it came to the final edit because he was by then a fully-fledged Nottingham Forest star.

This season Anderson has shown he can be relied on with 24 games played, one goal and one assist. He has been tipped for an England call-up to after helping Forest solidify a top three place.

However, the crazy thing is he could have been still waiting for his chance had he stayed at Newcastle this season. After suffering with a back injury last term, Anderson would have started pre-season vying for a place in midfield with Bruno Guimaraes, Joelinton and then later Sandro Tonali who started the campaign off still banned due to a 10-month FIFA suspension.