Bristol Rovers won’t have Nottingham Forest shock - Gasheads saw £100m evidence | OneFootball

Elliot Anderson may command a nine-digit transfer fee in the near future, and Bristol Rovers fans saw his potential during a loan spell at their club.

Elliot Anderson may be commanding a nine-digit transfer fee in the near future, but Bristol Rovers fans got a glimpse of his potential during a loan period at The Memorial Stadium in 2022.

The January transfer window will soon be upon us, and it's not only EFL clubs who will be in the market for reinforcements. And one name that keeps on coming up is that of the Nottingham Forest midfielder Eliott Anderson, who's been getting some very admiring glances from some very big names indeed.

Such has been the interest in Anderson that Forest manager Sean Dyche has been fielding questions about him for several weeks, and it seems inevitable that he will be leaving The City Ground for pastures new, if not in January then surely next summer.

But Bristol Rovers fans will also have fond memories of Anderson, even though his stay at The Memorial Stadium was brief.

Ex-Bristol Rovers star Elliot Anderson is attracting the interest of some of the biggest clubs in the game

Both Manchester City and Manchester United are reported to be interested in signing Anderson, who's now been capped six times by England, and the desperation of some of the Premier League's biggest clubs to acquire his services is reflected in the nosebleed-inducing £100 million price-tag that's been reportedly slapped upon his head.

Forest signed Anderson from Newcastle United for £35 million in the summer of 2024, so selling him would see them triple their investment in just a year and a half, but while Newcastle supporters may regret their club not having held onto him for a little while longer (there's even been talk that Newcastle could be preparing to offer him a return to Tyneside), the EFL club to whom they loaned him in 2022 be reflecting on the fact that they saw plenty of his potential when he spent the second half of the 2021-22 season.

Elliot Anderson earned Diego Maradona comparison during electric Bristol Rovers stint - Gasheads saw his potential

Anderson was originally a product of the famous Wallsend Boys Club, which boasts a star-studded alumni including England internationals Alan Shearer, Peter Beardsley and Michael Carrick, before transferring into the Newcastle academy at the age of eight and signing his first professional contract with them when he turned 17.

He made his Newcastle debut in an FA Cup match against Arsenal at the start of 2021, but after one appearance from the bench in the Premier League, the decision was taken to send him out on loan to Bristol Rovers in January 2022. The Pirates had been relegated from League One at the end of the previous season, but were involved in a tight race with a clutch of other clubs to secure a quick return.

He made his debut for them away to Sutton United at the start of February and was immediately impressive, drawing the foul which led to the free-kick from which Rovers scored their equaliser in a 1-1 draw. Two weeks later he scored his first senior goal for them in a 4-0 win at Stevenage.

It was clear to all that this was a very special talent. Over the second half of the season, he made 21 appearances for them and scored seven goals. And from there, the honours just kept coming. As Rovers closed in on promotion, he won the League Two Goal of the Month award for March 2022 for his goal against Harrogate Town, with his manager Joey Barton comparing him to Diego Maradona.

At the start of May he was awarded the EFL's Young Player of the Month Award for April. He doubled this up by winning the League Two Player of the Month Award, with Sky Sports pundit Don Goodman saying: “It almost needs to be pointed out that the criteria for this award is judged solely on Anderson’s performances in April, before the frankly ridiculous performance he turned in on the dramatic final day, adding two assists and a goal to the three goals and two assists he registered in April."

And if you want to know exactly how important Anderson's contribution was to Bristol Rovers that season, all you have to do is take a look at the final League Two table for the 2021-22 season. Rovers ended the season in the third automatic promotion place on goals scored from Northampton Town after the teams tied on both points and goal difference. So tight was the top of the table that season that they might not even have made the play-offs without his efforts.

Of course, with a player of such talent, Elliot Anderson's stay in the lower reaches of the EFL was always going to be brief. He was in the Newcastle first-team squad for the start of the 2022-23 season and was a regular on their bench by the time of the first anniversary of his loan move to Bristol Rovers. But Gasheads got a sneak preview of a genuine talent, and there's no question whatsoever that his mercurial talent was instrumental in helping them to promotion at the end of this time at The Memorial Stadium.