Elliot Anderson provided two assists for Nottingham Forest in a 3-2 victory at Old Trafford on Sunday, crossing for Morato’s early second-half equaliser and later finding Morgan Gibbs-White to put Forest ahead with 12 minutes remaining.
The 23-year-old’s delivery from wide and timing inside the box were the decisive detail at a ground where form usually favours the hosts — and his performance sharpened a summer story clubs are already weighing. Forest are understood to want well beyond £100 million if they are persuaded to sell Anderson, and while Manchester City are described as the more likely destination, Manchester United retain a strong interest.
Vitor Pereira, who joined Forest in February on an 18-month contract, has been bullish about Anderson’s ceiling. "He has the talent to be one of the top of the top, you understand?" Pereira said, adding: "He is young. For sure, he will fly with very big wings." Forest are planning to offer Pereira an extension to that deal as they balance keeping the squad competitive with the reality of transfer-driven finances.
The numbers underline the moment. Two assists at Old Trafford in a single high-profile fixture is not a routine occurrence for a 23-year-old from a club that has already gone through four managers this season. That combination — clear productivity and club instability — is the precise mix that fuels bidding wars and media speculation ahead of the summer window.
Manchester United’s ongoing interest has been voiced publicly by one of their own former players turned pundit. Gary Neville described Anderson as the "outstanding" midfield candidate for Manchester United this summer and used the club’s recent roster choices to explain the challenge facing any suitor. "Manchester United now need a 25 to 26-year-old version of Casemiro, but the problem is that it costs you £100m nowadays," Neville said on his podcast on Sunday.
Neville layered that assessment with a critique of recent transfer policy and an appraisal of Casemiro’s value. "Casemiro was signed in a panic after the Brentford defeat away from home," he said. "They overpaid and they overpaid on salary." But he also acknowledged the Brazilian’s contribution: "In this last six months, he's been exceptional in terms of getting Manchester United into the Champions League," and added, "They will miss him from a personality and character perspective, physicality, aerial presence and he's good on the ball as well."
Neville spelled out the practical implications: replacing a figure like Casemiro would be costly and difficult. "His heading and aerial ability in both boxes will be very difficult to replace," he said, before concluding, "Manchester United today in their current format and leadership won't go and do another deal like that." Those comments highlight the tension beneath the transfer noise: United want midfield reinforcement, but the veteran presence they crave carries a market price that may be beyond their appetite.
That is the rub for Anderson specifically. He has shown, in this fixture, that he can produce on the biggest domestic stage. That makes him attractive to buyers and lethal to Forest’s hopes of holding on. Yet Forest’s valuation — well beyond £100m — and the suggestion that Manchester City are the likelier landing spot complicate United's path, even if the club remains interested.
The immediate consequence is simple and urgent for supporters and executives alike: Forest must decide whether to resist all offers and build around a player who has broken through this season, or to set a price that will reshape their recruitment and finances. For Anderson, the next weeks will sharpen the choice between staying in a club on the rise under Pereira or moving to a side with a clearer route to silverware.
Either way, Sunday’s game answered one question and posed another: the 23-year-old can change big matches — but whether he changes clubs this summer will depend on whether any suitor is willing to meet a valuation Forest insist goes well beyond the current £100m benchmark.
