Nottingham Forest's Negotiation Challenge for Elliot Anderson

At Nottingham Forest these days, the real battle isn’t just on the pitch. It’s at the negotiating table.

Elliot Anderson, the latest jewel in the City Ground’s crown, has caught the eye of both Manchester giants, with scouts from the Etihad and Old Trafford circling. But prising him out of Trentside will be a job for the brave – and the very rich.

Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis has never been one to blink first. Those who have dealt with him talk about one of the hardest negotiators in the game, a man who will not even consider a sale unless the club stand to gain significantly. Any deal for Anderson would have to reshape Forest’s balance sheet, not just tweak it.

The numbers being whispered around the game reflect that stance. A nine-figure fee. £100 million and change. That’s the sort of sum City or United would have to find if they genuinely want to land a player many expect to light up this summer’s World Cup under Thomas Tuchel, as part of an ambitious England squad.

If Anderson delivers on North American soil, that price only goes one way.

Jack Colback, who shared a dressing room with Anderson at Forest, has seen enough already. Speaking in association with Bally Bet, he offered the kind of assessment that makes recruitment departments sit up.

“He’s just very, very good. He’s a very old-fashioned kind of midfielder, where he does everything,” Colback said. In an era obsessed with labels – No.6, No.8, No.10 – Anderson simply tears up the template. He breaks up play, dictates tempo, creates chances, and drives forward. Box to box, phase to phase, he’s there.

“Elliot just does it all,” Colback added. “His defensive play is fantastic. On the ball, he dictates play and is very good. He is creative and he also gets forward. He’s one of those that does it all. He could be one of the very best.”

Forest, crucially, are not a one-man show. Morgan Gibbs-White has already established himself as the side’s talisman in that iconic Garibaldi red, a No.10 who has turned promise into end product. Behind him, Murillo has emerged as one of the most eye-catching young centre-halves in the league.

Colback was at the club when the Brazilian defender first walked through the door. The impression was instant. “I've watched him a few times. Live in the stadium, he's one of them who kind of looks like he's got a mistake in him. But he reads the game so well and reacts so well,” Colback said.

That blend of risk and recovery has made Murillo a compelling watch. Forest have felt his absence this season when injuries have bitten, and the dip in form during those spells told its own story. When he plays, the back line looks braver, more assured, more willing to play.

Colback sees that as part of a wider pattern. “They [Forest] have missed him a little bit this season with injuries, and that showed a bit in the form. But I think it's credit to the club, the recruitment has been really, really good for a good few years now – credit to the owner for that.”

Murillo’s new contract, which runs through to 2030, underlines Forest’s intent. This is not a selling club by default; it is a club that wants to choose its moments. If that deal is honoured, he has the time and platform to join Gibbs-White in carving out modern-legend status at the City Ground.

Anderson could follow a similar path. Or he could be the one who brings in a transformative fee that funds an entire new chapter. That is the tension at the heart of Forest’s project: keep the stars and build around them, or cash in at the peak and back the recruitment machine to find the next wave.

While the board wrestles with those questions, the club has been reconnecting with its roots.

Recent weeks have seen some of Forest’s modern heroes return to familiar surroundings. Among them, Colback – a key part of the 2022 promotion side – was back on the pitch where he helped drag the club back to the Premier League.

That return came with a twist. Nottingham Forest’s front-of-shirt partner Bally Bet has launched a mission to give long-serving grassroots players the recognition they rarely receive. Forest great Mark Crossley was handed the task of putting together the first ever All-Stars Vets squad – a team built not from household names, but from the characters who keep the game alive on muddy pitches and cramped changing rooms.

Crossley, supported by other recognisable Forest faces, set about assembling the Bally Bet All-Stars. When the squad was ready, they were treated like top-flight pros for a day. The recreation grounds were left behind. The City Ground opened its doors.

On May 28, the All-Stars walked out to face a side of hand-picked Forest legends, given the full Premier League treatment on a stage usually reserved for the elite.

For Forest, it was a neat snapshot of where the club stands. A team with assets that Europe’s biggest clubs covet. An owner unwilling to be bullied. A recruitment model that keeps unearthing talent like Anderson and Murillo. And a fanbase and community never far from the heart of it all.

The next bid for one of their stars will test just how long that balance can hold.