Anthony Elanga has already fuelled Forest exit talk with Newcastle United phone call & meet-up before £55m bid

Newcastle first tried to sign Elanga last summer but a deal failed to materialise. A year on, The Magpies have returned with a fresh attempt to acquire the winger.

Forest rejected a £45million bid last week but Newcastle have since submitted an improved £55million bid.

Although Forest want to keep the 23-year-old, Newcastle’s latest offer is under serious consideration.

If accepted, personal terms are unlikely to be an issue between Newcastle and Elanga.

Anthony Elanga’s Newcastle United connection

Elanga has already discussed a potential move to Newcastle on various occasions. Last year, he acknowledged the interest in an interview with the Swedish media.

He told Fotboll Skanalen: “The environment in Nottingham is good. It is clear that you can see that Newcastle are interested, it means that I am playing good football when a big club shows interest.

“But Nottingham is also a big club, they have won two Champions Leagues, even though it was before I was born. But I’m happy in Nottingham and have a contract there.”

Elanga also has a good relationship with Newcastle top scorer and his Sweden international teammate Alexander Isak. And the pair have spoken about a potential move to Newcastle.

Elanga added: “Isak talked to me about [joining Newcastle]. But I said the same to him as I say to you. We have a good relationship and good chemistry when we play together.

“But I have a contract with Nottingham. I’m focusing on Nottingham and hope to have a good season, then we’ll see what happens.”

Elanga ended up having a good season at Forest, scoring six goals and assisting 12 to help his side finish seventh in the Premier League.

But since the end of the season, the winger has continued to fuel the transfer speculation, whether intentionally or not.

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Anthony Elanga asked about Newcastle once again

Last month, Elanga was asked about Newcastle’s interest in him while on international duty with Sweden.

He told Fotbollskanalen: “There is a lot of talk. I focus on what I can do and my focus today was on the match. In football there are always rumours. The most important thing is that I focus on what I can control.”

Elanga also told Swedish newspaper Expressen: “I guess there will always be scouts wherever I play. As long as I stay focused and do my best in the match.

“I just keep my focus and what I can control. That's what I can do on and off the field. I focus on the next day and action.”

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Anthony Elanga meets up with NUFC ‘agent’

In addition to Isak and Newcastle’s other Sweden international Emil Krafth, Elanga also has a strong relationship with Newcastle forward William Osula.

The pair have interacted regularly on social media and just days before Newcastle’s second formal bid, Osula posted a video of himself dancing with Elanga on Tiktok and shaking his hand.

A sign of a done deal? That’s probably reading too much into it though Osula has made a conscious effort to play up to the ‘Agent Osula’ tag given to him by the Newcastle fans due to his connection with Elanga.

The Danish forward replied to one supporter’s comment calling him ‘Agent Osula’ with a Thierry Henry smirking GIF before posting an image of himself with Elanga on Snapchat.

That only fuelled the transfer speculation further before news broke of Newcastle’s improved bid.

Now it’s just a case of Forest accepting the bid or else it’s back to the drawing board for Newcastle.

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