(Credit: Manh Tung - Breaking Media/Imago)

James Murray

Wed 15 April 2026 16:39, UK

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Elliot Anderson’s move to Nottingham Forest has proved to be a “terrible deal” for Newcastle United.

That is according to former Manchester City financial adviser Stefan Borson, who exclusively told Football Insider the Magpies were “backed into a corner” due to their profit and sustainability (PSR) position.

Anderson joined Forest in a £35million deal in the summer of 2024 despite being highly regarded at St James’ Park.

Meanwhile, goalkeeper Odysseas Vlachodimos went in the opposite direction for around £20m. 

While the deal helped Newcastle avoid a PSR breach, Anderson’s value has increased dramatically since the midfielder moved to the City Ground. 

Why Elliot Anderson deal has proved to be ‘disaster’ for Newcastle

Anderson is Man City’s number-one target heading into the summer transfer window, with any potential deal expected to be worth around £80m. 

Meanwhile, Newcastle find themselves in a position where they need to sell a player again, but it’s believed they could have to cash in on one of their major stars. 

Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, Borson discussed Newcastle’s options to sell players and the previous deal they agreed for Anderson.

“They’re not a club that’s got obvious young players where they can make a big profit,” said Borson.

“They’ll probably look back now and say the Anderson deal was a disaster for them. They lost it. They were backed into a corner at the 11th hour of the PSR window. They had to do a deal and Forest were there.

“With the benefit of hindsight, it looks like a terrible deal. They got £35m headline, but they ended up taking the goalkeeper Vlachodimos for £20m, who is worthless. Forest valued him at £20m in that deal, so it was a bad deal. But it’s easy with hindsight, isn’t it?” 

Why Newcastle face ‘challenge’ agreeing player sale

Borson insisted selling younger players makes more sense due to the potential profits on such deals.

“Those are the sort of players you want to have to be able to sell,” said Borson.

“That’s why Arsenal probably feel that they may be able to buy this summer if they can get a decent fee in for Lewis-Skelly and for Nwaneri because those players don’t need to go for £60m. 

“They can go for £30-40m and it’s still a good profit. It adds up pretty quickly and then you can reinvest it elsewhere.

“But Newcastle don’t seem to have that, so it’s going to be challenging.”