Wayne Rooney ‘gutted’ at Man Utd call on £116m transfer deal – ‘He’s a fantastic player’ | OneFootball

Wayne Rooney has expressed his disappointment that Elliot Anderson is not joining Manchester United and playing under manager Michael Carrick, with the midfielder set to move to Manchester City instead.

According to ESPN, Man City and Forest have a deal in place for Anderson, who is playing for England at the ongoing 2026 World Cup.

Man City, who recently officially announced Enzo Maresca as their new manager following the departure of Pep Guardiola at the end of last season, will pay Forest a fixed fee of £116million with no add-ons.

Man Utd had long been keen on Anderson and had made the former Newcastle United midfielder their top midfield target.

Ederson Silva will join Man Utd from Atalanta, but the club’s co-owners, INEOS, are determined to sign at least another midfielder in the summer transfer window.

However, Man Utd decided to abandon their pursuit of Anderson after learning the fee that Forest were demanding.

The Daily Mail reported on June 11 that Forest were looking for £130m for Anderson.

Although Forest eventually settled for £116m, which makes Anderson the most expensive British player in history, Man Utd did not get into a bidding war because INEOS felt that the fee was too much.

Former Man Utd star Rooney has admitted that he is “gutted” that Anderson is not joining Man Utd.

However, the former England international has warned Man City that there is no guarantee that Anderson will succeed at the Etihad Stadium.

Wayne Rooney would have loved Elliot Anderson at Man Utd

Rooney said on The Wayne Rooney Show: “He’s a fantastic player.

“I’m gutted Manchester United didn’t get him, but we’ve seen it when players go for big-money moves – like Kalvin Phillips and Jack Grealish to some extent – they [sometimes] don’t fit in.”

On Anderson’s potential record move and performances for England, former Liverpool and England international striker Emile Heskey said: “You have to look past the price tag. The beating stick is always going to be the price tag.”

Newcastle United had to sell Anderson to Forest in 2024 for PSR reasons and did not include a sell-on clause.

This means that Newcastle will not receive a single penny from the transfer of the midfielder to Man City, and Simon Jordan has been left stunned.

The former Crystal Palace owner said on talkSPORT: “I cannot believe Newcastle do not have a sell-on. It defies conventional wisdom.

“If they don’t have a sell-on, there’s something paradoxically wrong with every aspect of it.

“It’s incomprehensible: a young player goes out of a football club, who you didn’t want to leave, and you would have no commercial nous to put at least a 10 per cent, 15 per cent sell-on.”