Elliot Anderson set to join Manchester City - A bitter pill for Newcastle United

Oh, what might have been. Newcastle United academy graduate is set for a move to Manchester City two years after leaving St James' Park.

There were absolutely no positives to take from Newcastle United selling Elliot Anderson to Nottingham Forest in 2024, at least from a Newcastle perspective.

The Magpies may have avoided a points deduction by fixing the hole in their PSR reporting, but there are plenty of fans and even pundits who have said they'd rather have taken the punishment than sell one of the brightest prospects to come out of the region in years.

Newcastle only receiving £35 million for the young star was insulting enough, then add on the fact that we had to buy goalkeeper Odysseas Vlachodimos for £20 million as part of the agreement, and it's sickening. However, right now, the thing that really stings is the fact that the deal didn't contain a sell-on clause.

Elliot Anderson has thrived in the last two years

Since moving to the City Ground, Anderson has gone from strength to strength and is now one of the first names on the team sheet for England manager Thomas Tuchel. He's impressing at the World Cup, and it was no surprise that the likes of Manchester City were willing to push hard to get a deal done this summer.

After some back and forth, it was reported last night, now confirmed by Sky News, that Man City and Nottingham Forest had agreed a fee of around £116 million, and the deal is on.

Anderson still has to agree on personal terms and sign on the dotted line, but there aren't thought to be any concerns in that regard. Newcastle could have been due a slice of that hefty pie, but PSR put the club in a poor negotiating position.

Would Anderson be here if he'd stayed at Newcastle?

There's a strong argument, and a valid one, to be made that Anderson wouldn't have progressed to this level, at least not this quickly, had he stayed at Newcastle.

Eddie Howe tended to use Anderson sparingly, and with Bruno Guimaraes, Sandro Tonali and Joelinton ahead of him, often cited as the best midfield trio in the Premier League at the time, it would have been hard for the Whitley Bay lad to secure a place in the starting lineup.

Howe gets a lot of stick for not giving our kids enough of a chance, and while we don't necessarily agree with that sentiment, this is definitely a strong case for that argument.

In a summer where fans are starting to lose faith again, this is just another gripe for us all to twist about.