Nottingham Forest must sign the Moroccan Elliot Anderson, he's lighting up the World Cup

Evangelos Marinakis could have both eyes on the 2026 World Cup, as Nottingham Forest become resigned to losing Elliot Anderson.

Manchester City continue to edge closer and closer to an agreement with the Tricky Trees this summer, a deal which could see upwards of £120million slid across the table.

That fee could rise even further with add-ons, but even with that amount of money, the difficuly will be replacing the England international ahead of the 2026-27 campaign.

Lucas Bergvall, Davide Frattesi and Tyler Morton have all been linked as potential replacements, and Vitor Pereira will be desperate for a link between Ibrahim Sangare and Morgan Gibbs-White.

Understandably, a deal of this size is not simple in the slightest, meaning that there could be weeks until the player and club know the outcome.

But the Reds need to prepare for the worst-case scenario, and the 2026 World Cup is already the perfect shop window for Marinakis and his transfer chiefs.

Neil El Aynaoui must be on Nottingham Forest's radar

Morocco, one of the dark horses at this summer's tournament, have already qualified for the knockout stages after beating Haiti on Wednesday, 24 June.

The six-goal thriller meant that the African side finished second to Brazil, only on goal difference, possibly setting up a round-of-32 meeting with the Netherlands.

One player who has been integral to the team's success is Roma's Neil El Aynaoui, especially putting up two sensational displays against Brazil and Scotland.

Even against Haiti, in what was a slightly less impressive display, the midfielder had 67 touches, made two tackles and three recoveries, entered into eight ground duels and won three fouls [FotMob].

Against Brazil, he created one chance, completed 100 per cent of his dribbles, made four tackles and recoveries, and entered into 17 total duels during the 90 minutes [FotMob].

How do his stats compare to Elliot Anderson's?

With El Aynaoui only playing 991 minutes in Serie A last season, compared to Anderson's 3334 in the Premier League, comparisons are a little trickier.

The Roma man created a chance every 83 minutes, while Forest's star created one every 61, and he completed 0.82 dribbles per 90 compared to Anderson's 1.35 [FotMob].

In clearances, interceptions, and possession won in the final third, El Aynaoui is miles ahead, though his tackle success rate could do with a little extra work.

His current stats suggest that the midfield maestro has the ability to become Anderson's successor, and as he continues to fly under the radar, a bargain price could be on the cards as well.