Man Utd also linked 

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Manchester City have fired the starting gun for one of the most anticipated races in this summer’s transfer window. According to The Athletic, the Etihad side had an offer for Elliot Anderson rejected by Nottingham Forest on Wednesday. The publication reports that Man City’s interest in the England international is likely to lead to a second offer in the near future, with cross-city rivals Manchester United also heavily linked with a move for Anderson in recent months. The 23-year-old talent made the move to Forest in 2024 from Newcastle for €41.2 million, but now seems set to depart the City Ground for at least twice that amount in the coming months.

Indeed, Anderson has gone from strength to strength at Forest, bagging an impressive six goals and 11 assists in 92 games across all competitions over the course of the last two years. His impressive performances have also seen his market value rise from just €15m when he first joined the club, to where it now stands at €75m – no other midfielder in the English top-flight has gained more market value than Anderson since he swapped Newcastle for Forest.

Although no exact figure has been published, the fee that Forest are holding out for Anderson is reportedly believed to be around what Arsenal paid for Declan Rice when he moved from West Ham in 2023 for €116.6m. The future Premier League champion became the second most expensive central midfielder signed by an English side at the time, sitting just below Enzo Fernández’s €121m move to Chelsea in 2023 and Moisés Caicedo’s €116m move to Stamford Bridge in the same year.

Should Anderson go for a similar fee, he’ll smash the previous highest fee paid by Man City for a central midfielder. That current record is still held by Rodri, who moved to the English giants in 2019 for €70m. Although Anderson’s move will almost certainly place him above second-placed Josko Gvardiol (€90m move from RB Leipzig in 2023), it remains to be seen whether the midfielder’s eventual fee would break the club’s all-time record, which remains the €117.5m Man City paid for Jack Grealish in 2021.