Newcastle United leaked training ground footage confirms imminent transfer & new contract deal
Newcastle United are set to announce the signing of Anthony Elanga from Nottingham Forest.
Elanga has been in Newcastle this week, completing his medical and finalising a £55million move from Forest.
The 23-year-old has signed a five-year deal at St James’ Park in a move that makes him Forest’s most expensive transfer sale and Newcastle’s second most expensive purchase behind the £63million Alexander Isak.
Elanga has a good relationship with Isak with the pair representing Sweden at international level. The winger also has a good connection with Emil Krafth as well as William Osula, who teased the transfer on social media last week.
Newcastle’s players are now back training for pre-season and Elanga is set to join them, having been briefly introduced already.
Anthony Elanga spotted with new Newcastle United teammates ahead of official announcement
A leaked image has surfaced on social media showing Elanga in the Newcastle first-team dressing room at the training ground meeting some of his new teammates.
The image, shared by @Im_RobM on X, shows Elanga greeting Harvey Barnes while stood next to his new right-wing competition in Jacob Murphy.
Matt Targett, Sean Longstaff and John Ruddy are also seen watching on. Ruddy’s contract at Newcastle expired on June 30, but he is understood to have agreed a new deal.
Although Ruddy’s new contract is yet to be announced by Newcastle officially, the goalkeeper’s presence at the training ground is a bit of a giveaway.
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Elanga is Newcastle’s first major arrival of the summer with an official announcement pending. He is set to be part of the squad for the pre-season opener at Celtic on July 19 (3pm kick-off). Newcastle will then have a training camp in Austria before travelling to Singapore to face Arsenal and then South Korea for matches against a K-League XI and Tottenham Hotspur.
Newcastle’s pre-season concludes with a Sela Cup weekend double header against Espanyol on August 8 and Atletico Madrid on August 9 at St James’ Park.
The Premier League season gets underway for Eddie Howe’s side on Saturday, August 16 at Aston Villa (12:30pm kick-off).
Anthony Elanga NUFC’s top target
Forest are very reluctant sellers of Elanga after the winger scored six and assisted 12 goals for the club last season. The 23-year-old has had two strong campaigns at the City Ground since his £15million move from Manchester United in 2023.
Since then, he has scored 11 goals and assisted 21 in 82 appearances for Forest.
The Swedish international’s pace and creativity has made him among the top targets for Eddie Howe over the past year.
Newcastle had conversations to sign Elanga last summer but were ultimately unsuccessful but have now secured their man.
Now, The Magpies will be looking to sign a goalkeeper, centre-back and striker while uncertainty over Sean Longstaff’s future brings the midfield into sharper focus as an area to strengthen.
Newcastle will be looking to build on a very successful 2024/25 season which saw them win the Carabao Cup for the first time while also qualifying for the Champions League.