Ross Wilson has already agreed Elliot Anderson deal once as Newcastle United transfer clause claim made
Newcastle United sporting director Ross Wilson knew how good a deal Nottingham Forest were getting when they signed Elliot Anderson for £35million.
Newcastle United reluctantly sold Elliot Anderson to Nottingham Forest for £35million back in 2024.
Ross Wilson, who is now Newcastle’s new sporting director, was working as chief football officer at Forest at the time and admitted he was ‘excited’ to get the deal over the line.
Anderson has since developed into a key player in Nottingham Forest’s midfield and is a full England international at 22 heading into a World Cup year. It’s fair to say he’s now worth a lot more than the £35million Forest paid for him, if he wasn’t already.
The deal was made even better for Forest with out-of-favour goalkeeper Odysseas Vlachodimos heading in the opposite direction to join Newcastle for £20million, meaning the club only had a £15million net spend to acquire Anderson’s signature.
The deal came about when Newcastle were under serious PSR pressure to sell in order to adhere to financial rules and avoid a points deduction, something the sale of Anderson helped with.
Ross Wilson on Elliot Anderson’s Newcastle United transfer
Wilson joined Newcastle as sporting director from Nottingham Forest last week having previously played a key role in bringing Anderson to the City Ground.
And when the transfer was announced, it was clear Wilson knew he’d secured an excellent deal for Forest, albeit a frustrating one for his future employers.
“We are all delighted to welcome Elliot to Nottingham Forest and pleased that he has chosen to continue to develop his talent with us in the Premier League,” Wilson said last summer.
"We are sure he will thrive in a Forest shirt, as other players in his age profile have done. As soon as the opportunity arose for him to potentially join, it was something we were all excited to make happen.”
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Newcastle United would ‘love’ to have Elliot Anderson back
Wilson could soon be tasked with negotiating a transfer for Anderson back in the opposite direction, should head coach Eddie Howe have his way at least.
Talk of a Newcastle reunion for Anderson gathered momentum ahead of the recent meeting between The Magpies and Forest at St James’ Park. Ahead of the match, Howe admitted he would ‘love’ to have Anderson back at the club,
“Certainly from my perspective I would love him too,” Howe said. “I’m very respectful of the fact he is at another football club and I would never normally talk about a player in that way, so, I won’t change that stance but it is very regretful a player from the academy who had given so much, and the club had given so much too, the coaching staff, all those years here and how people tried to develop those talents, for him not to be utilised here is a real shame.”
Howe added: “We knew that [Anderson was a bargain for Forest]. We knew that the minute it was going to happen, and likely to happen, that we were massively selling him a big discount.
“But the position we were in, we weren't in a very strong negotiating position at all. And it was that or a points deduction. So I said many times we had no choice but to make the sale, but it was not one we wanted to do.”
As much as Newcastle would love to have Anderson back, he won’t come cheap and they have no clauses in the deal that they could use to their advantage.
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Newcastle United Elliot Anderson transfer clause truth
Often when a club sells a young academy graduate, various clauses are inserted into the deal. Chelsea and Manchester City are just two clubs that have made millions from various sell-on clauses while also having buy-back clauses.
Newcastle found that out in the summer when Manchester City were able to re-sign goalkeeper target James Trafford from Burnley for a cut-price deal given the various clauses they had in the deal.
But the pressure Newcastle were under to raise funds immediately in June 2024 meant they had to maximise the up front transfer fee they would receive in order to comply with PSR and avoid a potential Premier League points deduction.
As a result, they received £35million for Anderson and no clauses were inserted into the deal. So, should Anderson be sold on for a significant profit, something that could well happen in the near future, Newcastle won’t get a penny despite bringing the player through their academy and playing a key role in his development.
And if they want to buy the midfielder back, it will be an open market where they have no buy-back or clause advantages.
It’s something Wilson will have already been aware of by the time Howe’s recent press conference claim.
“It certainly was a rushed deal because we were on the clock and trying to explore every avenue to try and find another way to beat a points deduction,” Howe said. “But in terms of buy-backs, we weren't in a good bargaining position at all, so our strength to negotiate those things was non-existent.”