Nottingham Forest have responded to Manchester United’s ‘concrete’ interest in Elliot Anderson by setting a huge asking price for the England international.
The 23-year-old has excelled since leaving Newcastle for the City Ground and is now firmly established as part of Thomas Tuchel’s plans for next summer’s World Cup.
Unsurprisingly, Anderson’s form has alerted a number of leading Premier League clubs with United having earmarked him as a key target.
The Red Devils appear to have turned a significant corner and are in the midst of a five-game unbeaten run following Saturday’s 2-2 draw against Tottenham.
A more coherent transfer strategy has underpinned their recent improvement with Senne Lammens, Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha all looking like shrewd investments.
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Bolstering Ruben Amorim’s midfield engine room is understood to be the next priority in the club’s rebuild but, according to Sky Germany, United will have to pay between £100 and £120m for a player who is also admired by the likes of Liverpool and Manchester City.
United have also earmarked the likes of Brighton’s Carlos Baleba and Anderson’s Three Lions teammate Adam Wharton.
Former United striker Louis Saha is an admirer of Wharton’s, in particular, but fears there is a great danger in investing so heavily in a player of his relative inexperience.
‘It’s a possibility (that Man Utd could sign Adam Wharton for £100 million next summer).’ former United striker Saha told OLBG .
‘I think Adam Wharton is a young lad. I do think that sometimes you have to be careful with those big signings.
‘I consider this new market to be extremely dangerous for clubs because you can see the hype that goes up and then you’re left surprised.
‘It took a bit of time for Moises Caicedo to settle at Chelsea as well so there are big signings and sometimes the expectations are too high.
‘You have to really read under the lines and that’s not easy. That’s really not an easy market.
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‘People can throw big numbers. The agents are very pleased with that. I am not a big fan of this.’
A pursuit of Anderson would almost certainly spell the end for Kobbie Mainoo who has played just eight games this season having been reduced to a bit-part role.
‘Kobbie Mainoo needs to believe and show confidence,’ said Saha. ‘He has been challenged physically, I think, more than technically.
‘The rhythm in his game needs to improve. This is the only thing I see because otherwise, football-wise, his brain is very sharp.
‘He needs to engage more, to create more, and definitely show aggressiveness. This is the type of thing that they’re asking for from every player so it’s not going to be only for him to show that.
‘But yes, he’s been challenged and I think he’s got competition. I think sometimes they are not fair but I think it’s good for him.’