Official: Elliott Anderson joins Manchester City for €135 million, a club record

England midfielder Elliot Anderson, who participated in the 2026 World Cup with the Three Lions, has left Nottingham Forest to join Manchester City, the English club announced on Thursday, for a fee estimated by the press at 116 million pounds (135 million euros).

The 23-year-old England international has signed a contract until 2031, City announced, making this their biggest transfer in history since the arrival of Jack Grealish in 2021 from Aston Villa (€117.5M).

It is also the second most important transfer for an English player, behind that of his compatriot Morgan Rogers (Aston Villa), who joined Chelsea this week for 117 million pounds (137 million euros).

The record for the highest transfer fee for an English club still belongs to Liverpool, who spent £125 million (around €146 million) last summer to sign Swede Alexander Isak from Newcastle.

"Manchester City is one of the biggest clubs in the world and the squad they have is incredible, so strong in every position. As soon as I knew they wanted me, I was determined to make this transfer happen," the player said, as quoted in the club's statement.

City, who announced at the end of June the appointment of Italian Enzo Maresca as coach to succeed Pep Guardiola, finished second in the league behind Arsenal last season.

Trained at Newcastle, Anderson joined Nottingham Forest in 2024, where he became one of the key players with 75 appearances in two Premier League seasons, culminating in the club's first qualification for a European competition in 2024/2025.

"His progress in recent years has been truly impressive, and shows his desire to be the best player possible," praised City's director of football, Hugo Viana.

Last season, Anderson was the player who touched the ball the most and won the most duels in the entire Premier League, according to the City statement.

Selected for the first time for the England team by Thomas Tuchel in September 2025 against Andorra, he has worn the Three Lions jersey 17 times.

He participated in all of England's matches during the World Cup, each time as a starter except for the 3rd place match won against France (6-4), where he came on as a late substitute.

AFP