Jarell Quansah says Elliot Anderson is “fully focused” on England, even as Manchester City close in on a reported £116m deal from Nottingham Forest. Quansah said Anderson made his England debut last September and backed him to stay locked in on the World Cup.
"I see a player that's fully focused on what he wants, and I think at the moment what he wants is to win a World Cup," Quansah said. He also added: "But he's a proper focused young lad and he'll go right to the top I think."
Quansah's view on Anderson
Quansah's point is easy to follow because it comes with evidence. Anderson has already started 2 World Cup matches, and he has also started England's 0-0 draw with Ghana after impressing in the 4-2 win over Croatia. That is a decent sign that the transfer noise is not showing up in his performances.
The numbers back the same reading. Anderson has a 6.96 average rating across those 2 World Cup appearances, with 1 direct goal contribution in the tournament sample. He has played deeper this season too, in a sort of a six and sometimes an eight, which Quansah said has shown he has “probably everything you want as a midfielder”.
The transfer and the fee debate
The fee is where the story gets noisy. One report put the deal at £116m, while another version of the move has circulated at £130m. The stronger line from the reporting around this is still the £116m figure, and that is the one tied to the move from Forest to City here.
Thomas Tuchel has taken the same relaxed line about the transfer. He said Anderson seems not affected, with no distractions and full commitment, and that in reality nothing changes because he just changes club and "that's the rules of the game". There were also discussions about Anderson having a medical in New York over the weekend, but that has not been confirmed as settled fact.
City's interest is not happening in a vacuum either. They finished 2nd in the Premier League with 78 points, while Forest finished 16th, which explains why a major sale looks like elite-level shopping for one club and a huge exit for the other. Anderson's tournament form suggests the move is landing while he is still very much in the middle of something important, not winding down after it.
The next concrete marker is England's World Cup run, where Anderson has already been trusted twice from the start. For City, the expectation is that a £116m deal takes him out of Forest and into a much bigger midfield conversation before long.
Written by Jack Mercer with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 3 outlets. How we work →