Man Utd ‘submit opening bid’ for top midfield target despite rumours they could walk away | OneFootball

Man Utd have submitted an opening bid to sign top midfield target Elliot Anderson from Nottingham Forest, according to reports.

The Red Devils spent over £200m on new players last summer as they used the majority of their budget on attacking players, with Benjamin Sesko, Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha all arriving at Old Trafford.

There were some disappointed fans after Man Utd failed to bring in a new midfielder with that a particular area of concern ahead of the beginning of the season.

But Sir Jim Ratcliffe and INEOS are determined to address those concerns over the summer with widespread rumours that they will try to bring in at least two new midfielders, a left-back and left-winger as a minimum.

Man Utd have been linked with numerous midfielders over the past few months as the transfer window gets closer and excitement builds over their lofty position under interim boss Michael Carrick.

Nottingham Forest’s Anderson, Newcastle’s Sandro Tonali, Crystal Palace’s Adam Wharton and Brighton’s Carlos Baleba are some of the most rumoured players.

Anderson emerged recently as their top target but there have been worried that Man City – who could end up the season as Premier League champions – could beat the Red Devils to his signing.

But an account on X made up of ‘five elite reporters’ and 709k followers has insisted that Man Utd have made their first offer to Nottingham Forest for Anderson.

The account wrote: ‘On good authority, we have been told that Manchester United have submitted an opening bid for Elliot Anderson. We have no further information on the figure or whether the bid has been rejected. Elliot Anderson.’

With a lack of meat on the bones, a report on ESPN is probably more believable, with the outlet claiming Man Utd ‘will not get into a bidding war’ with Man City for Anderson this summer.

Nottingham Forest ‘are quoting around £120m’ for the England international but Man Utd ‘believe the asking price for Anderson is vastly inflated and are reluctant to get into a battle with City which could drive up the fee’.

The report adds:

Paul Scholes revealed earlier this season that he thought Anderson would be a “really good player” for Man Utd to bring to Old Trafford during the summer.

Scholes said on The Good, The Bad & The Football podcast: “Elliot Anderson is a really good player.

“Look, I think they need a bit more than Anderson to get to where they want to be, to challenging, but, no, I think he’s a really good player.

“When he was at Newcastle I thought he was a really good player. I thought he was more of an attacking midfielder and I didn’t see him in this role that he’s playing for England as a number six.

“But he looks a really good player, I think he’s athletic enough as well and, yeah, I think he would be a really good signing but we’ll see.”