Manchester City’s Premier League-record bid for the Nottingham Forest star was rejected
Nottingham Forest have firmly rebuffed a massive financial package from Manchester City for breakout midfielder Elliot Anderson.
The continuous interest surrounding Ola Aina’s international club teammate has turned into one of the summer window’s premier sagas, forcing the league’s heavyweights to re-evaluate their valuation metrics.
Citizens Fall Short of Record Valuation
Manchester City’s escalated verbal offer reached a structured valuation in excess of £120 million, comprising a guaranteed £106 million up-front fixed fee supplemented by several performance-based add-ons.
While the astronomical numbers would comfortably place the 23-year-old among the most expensive midfielders in footballing history, alongside the likes of Declan Rice, Moisés Caicedo, and Enzo Fernández, the Forest hierarchy remains completely unmoved.
Club owner Evangelos Marinakis has set an incredibly strict threshold for the creative playmaker, demanding that any potential transaction eclipse the £125 million British record package Liverpool paid Newcastle United for striker Alexander Isak.
Having already rejected an initial lower opening bid from City earlier this month, the East Midlands club holds immense leverage.
Engine Room Dominance Triggers Bidding War
Anderson’s meteoric rise follows an exceptional domestic campaign at the City Ground, where he featured in all 38 of Forest’s Premier League games throughout the 2025-26 season, registering a vital four goals and four assists.
Originally joining from Newcastle in 2023 for a net valuation of just £15 million, the dynamic engine-room controller has seen his stock skyrocket globally.
His consistent club form earned him a senior England international debut, quickly culminating in a call-up to Thomas Tuchel’s core World Cup squad, where he was formally handed the prestigious number eight jersey.
While cross-town rivals Manchester United maintain an intense admiration for the player, club executives are explicitly refusing to enter a chaotic bidding war, shifting their attention to alternative targets like West Ham’s Mateus Fernandes and Bournemouth’s Alex Scott as City prepares a third structural approach.