Newcastle United latest news: Anthony Elanga scored his first Newcastle United goal following his move from Nottingham Forest during their defeat to Arsenal in Singapore.

Anthony Elanga took just six minutes to register his first Newcastle United goal on his first start for the club when he tapped home a cross by Sandro Tonali past a despairing David Raya. Although it was a scuffed effort that trickled its way past the Spaniard, seeing Elanga’s name on the scoresheet was a pleasing sight and one that Newcastle United will hope to see on a regular basis going forward.

As it stands, the Swedish international remains the club’s only major first-team signing of the summer. Work on deals in the background are ongoing, but as seen with the protracted move for Elanga, those can take time to complete.

Elanga was wanted by the Magpies for over a year, with Nottingham Forest standing firm on the winger for much of that time. Having seen a bid rejected in the final days of last summer’s transfer window, Newcastle then saw an initial approach knocked back by the Tricky Trees with negotiations, at that stage, slowing amid a gap in valuations between the two clubs.

Eventually, a £52m fee, plus a potential £3m in add-ons, was agreed and Elanga finally became a Newcastle United player.

Anthony Elanga reveals teammate pushed for Newcastle United move

Elanga joined Newcastle United with much fanfare, with his strike and general performance against Arsenal exciting many Magpies fans. Those out in Singapore were able to cheer on the former Manchester United man from the off for the first time against the Gunners and were able to ask him questions at a fan Q&A event.

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Unsurprisingly, Elanga was asked about his feelings when Newcastle United’s interest in signing him first emerged, with the winger revealing that he sought the advice of two former Magpies players before agreeing to a move: “When I found out about the interest, Elliot [Anderson] and Chris Wood spoke to me a lot,” Elanga said. “Elliot did push it, he did push me to come, he obviously still loves Newcastle so much.

“He was at the [Carabao Cup] final last year so I took his word for it on how much he loves the club and how much the club would help me develop as a player. I took the opportunity to come here and I really want to develop and to become the best player I possibly can.”

Elanga will hope he can continue to impress during pre-season and push for a starting spot in Howe’s first Premier League team of the season. Newcastle United’s first league game sees them make the trip to Villa Park for a difficult looking clash against Aston Villa - the team they pipped to the final Champions League qualification spot last season.

Elanga was replaced at half-time after an impressive 45 minutes against Arsenal, with Jacob Murphy coming on in his place. The former Norwich City man also stood out against Mikel Arteta’s side in Singapore, netting a very good effort from outside the box to equalise for his team. With Murphy and Elanga impressing, Howe has a big decision to make for that trip to the midlands and beyond.