Vitor Pereira sends Elliot Anderson transfer message to Man Utd after Nottingham Forest defeat

Vitor Pereira stressed that Nottingham Forest would be doing everything in their power to keep hold of Elliot Anderson after the midfielder’s outstanding performance in the side’s 3-2 loss to Manchester United.

Anderson assisted both of Forest’s goals through Morato and Morgan Gibbs-White to set up a nervy finish and further underline his credentials as one of the sought-after midfielders in Premier League football.

While Bryan Mbeumo’s 76th-minute strike proved decisive, there can be no question that Anderson passed his Old Trafford audition with flying colours, with the Red Devils believed to be eyeing a summer deal for the 23-year-old England international.

Manchester City have also been heavily linked with Anderson in recent months and Forest have reportedly responded by setting an eye-watering price tag of between £100-120million for potential suitors.

Anderson will no doubt be looking to end the season on a high when Forest return to action at home to Bournemouth next weekend, which could turn out to be his final appearance for the club.

Facing the media in the immediate aftermath of Sunday’s contest, Pereira was unable to categorically confirm if Anderson would still be at the City Ground beyond the summer.

However, the Portuguese moved to reassure supporters that Forest ideally planned to cling onto Anderson, as well as the vast majority of his first-team squad.

Asked if he feared Anderson could be poached by a top club, Pereira told reporters: ‘I don’t have the answers. The market is the market and everything can happen.

‘What I can say to you is that the club wants to keep him playing for us, for sure.

‘The club wants to keep almost all the players because this is a very good group with quality and character and we have a very good base for next season.’

According to Pereira, Anderson has all the talent and potential to reach the very highest level in the game.

‘He has the talent to be one of the top, top of the top,’ he added.

‘Every time he can score more goals, he can take a little bit more risk in the last third because he has a very good shot.

‘It depends on the system because if we play in the system where we give him total freedom to build play and to appear, I think he can do everything, but in our system, we are playing with two midfielders.

‘If he lose every time the position, when the other one lose the position, we don’t have midfielders. It means that it’s a system that doesn’t give him total freedom to create.

‘He needs to understand when the other ones loses the position that he cannot lose the position.

‘But he has a lot of talent, for sure. He’s young and he will fly with big wings.’

The Forest manager was also keen to praise Gibbs-White’s all-action display, which came just two weeks on from the horrific head injury he suffered against Chelsea.

‘In an open game they [Anderson and Gibbs-White] are very dangerous players,’ Pereira continued.

‘You cannot give a lot of space to Elliot because he can decide a game, whether it is assisting, shooting or finding someone free.

‘Morgan, even with the problem of the mask, has a lot of quality and he scored a beautiful goal.

‘He had a chance to score more goals today and I’m very proud of my players.’

Discussing the match in general, Pereira went on: ‘Crazy game. Maybe a good game for the supporters but for a manager, it was an open game especially in the second half.

‘We conceded a lot of counter-attacks and they are dangerous on the counter-attack.

‘But I understand my team, they want to score goals to equalise the game.

‘In the end, we conceded in a lot spaces and we started to lose our organisation, to lose our balance.

‘They got chances to score, we had chances to score and it was a pity that the game was decided by a decision [to award Matheus Cunha’s goal] that I must accept. It’s the decision of the referee but it’s not my opinion.

‘For me, it was a handball. Very clear but they decided not to cancel the goal and it was the decision that decided the game.’

The contest may be best remembered for a hugely controversial moment in the 55th minute, when referee Michael Salisbury decided to stick with his initial decision to award Cunha’s strike despite being sent to the screen by VAR Matthew Donohue for a possible handball.

When asked if he had spoken with Salisbury about the incident, Pereira revealed: ‘He thinks that the control with the hand was after the touch on the body.

‘I must accept but it’s not my opinion because I watched the images and in my opinion he controlled the ball with the hand and the goal comes from the control.

‘If not, they would not have had a chance to shoot and to score.’

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