This is why they all want him. This is why £100million-rated Elliot Anderson is destined to be one of the most wanted footballers in Europe this summer and whichever club signs him will be repaid in spades.
In the 88th minute of his 55th game of the season, and with Nottingham Forest a goal down to his hometown club Newcastle, Anderson collected the ball in the left channel. He found James McAtee in the box but did not stop to admire his pass, instead collecting the return, charging beyond Lewis Hall and finding the top corner.
Anderson will hit the global stage this summer at the World Cup and next season it will be the Champions League, probably with Manchester United or Manchester City. Evangelos Marinakis will probably demand a British record fee and there is every chance the Forest owner will get it.
That brilliant equaliser pushed Forest a step closer to safety as they awaited the result of West Ham’s game with Arsenal. Anderson is unlikely to find himself in many more relegation battles.
Until then, it looked as though a late strike from substitute Harvey Barnes had kept Newcastle’s flickering European hopes just about alive but then Anderson – signed two years ago from Newcastle for £35million – made his outstanding intervention. It was an uplifting moment for Forest fans, who had watched their Europa League dreams crushed with a 4-0 defeat at Aston Villa last Thursday.
Both sides started sleepily in the afternoon sunshine. With so many players absent, Vitor Pereira opted for a back three for Forest while Anthony Gordon was on the bench for Newcastle as he works his way back from injury.
Nottingham Forest and Newcastle played out a 1-1 draw on Sunday at the City Ground
Elliot Anderson scored a late equaliser for Forest to take them seven points clear of the drop
Anderson showed great feet before he finished superbly to rescue a point for his team
In the 10th minute, William Osula headed Sandro Tonali’s cross wide from a decent position as Forest struggled to stop delivery from wide. At the other end, a smart Forest break ended with Dilane Bakwa’s shot deflecting off Lewis Hall for a corner.
Bakwa is a frustrating player. Though he has talent, at this stage of his career he is possibly too lightweight for English football, and there are plenty of mistakes in possession. He does still show why Forest invested about £30million in him and when he zipped past Dan Burn and reached the byline, a calm delivery was needed. Instead, Bakwa drilled the ball waist-high at Taiwo Awoniyi, who could not turn it home on his 100th appearance for the club.
Not long afterwards, Bakwa delivered from the left, Nick Pope flapped and Jair Cunha steered goalwards. Luckily for Newcastle, Pope made up for his error and swatted the ball to safety.
By now Pereira had reverted to a back four, with Cunha at right-back, Neco Williams at left-back and Luca Netz on the left of midfield. They looked better for it though still they needed Matz Sels to rescue them with a fine point-blank save from Osula.
Ryan Yates replaced Nicolas Dominguez at the start of the second period and Pope was quickly into the action with a near-post stop to deny Igor Jesus. Newcastle tried to respond with a low free-kick from Bruno Guimaraes which flew just wide from 30 yards.
Awoniyi is a handful for any centre-back and he showed why by outmuscling Sven Botman as they contested a bouncing ball, forcing Malik Thiaw to make a vital challenge that took the sting from his shot.
Sels showed his importance on the hour mark with two interventions to keep Forest level. First he parried from Guimaraes after Morato had made a mess of a clearance and after Morato had hacked the ball off the line, Sels moved to his right brilliantly to deny Guimaraes a second time.
Harvey Barnes earlier thought he had won the game for Newcastle with his 74th-minute strike
Barnes finished calmly after being introduced off the bench midway through the second half
The result was a damaging blow to Newcastle’s hopes of qualifying for Europe for next season
Eddie Howe’s team came even closer when Milenkovic was ruled to have fouled Guimaraes 20 yards from goal and Osula’s free-kick beat Sels but hit the bar.
Moments after Awoniyi had been replaced by Chris Wood, Newcastle’s substitutes combined to give them the lead. Jacob Ramsey found a perfect pass and Barnes held off Morato before shooting confidently past the advancing Sels.
Just when it seemed as though that would be enough, Anderson produced another special moment in a fabulous season for him.
Collecting a reverse pass from substitute James McAtee, Anderson powered beyond Hall and fired past Pope into the top corner with his weaker left foot, before collapsing with cramp. Given the amount of running he has done this season, it was really no surprise.
