Liverpool told to ‘future-proof’ their midfield by signing £100m ‘gamechanger’ as serious upgrade for hero ‘set to be sold’ | OneFootball

Liverpool have been advised to hijack the battle to sign Elliot Anderson this summer, with a journalist imploring Richard Hughes to beat Manchester United and Manchester City to the Nottingham Forest star by explaining why he is a superior option to Alexis Mac Allister, Curtis Jones and Ryan Gravenberch.

The 23-year-old midfielder has enjoyed a rapid rise since Newcastle decided to offload the player to Nottingham Forest in a £35m deal which was conducted purely for the benefits of FFP. While eyebrows were raised at the time at the fee involved to sign the midfielder, it’s a move that has paid handsome dividends for both the Tricky Trees and the player himself.

One of the first names on the Forest teamsheet, Anderson has become a regular for England under Thomas Tuchel in recent times and looks a certainty to be part of the Three Lions’ squad that travels across the Atlantic to participate in the World Cup this summer.

Understandably, transfer speculation over the player’s future has followed. With Forest fighting to avoid relegation to the Championship, Anderson’s star has still managed to shine brightly, and our transfer correspondent, Fraser Fletcher, revealed earlier this week that Manchester United have now set the groundwork in place for a bumper summer move – and will not be dissuaded by the possibility of needing to fork out a new club-record fee for his services.

And while we also understand Manchester City are also firmly in the mix to sign a star that Pep Guardiola admires, Sporting Life journalist Sam McGuire has explained why he thinks Liverpool need to get in on the act and sign a player who can ‘future-proof their midfield’.

Explaining how his efforts helped “suffocate” Liverpool’s midfielders over the weekend, as Forest dominated but ultimately slipped to an unfortunate 1-0 defeat, McGuire believes the player that Jamie Redknapp described as “one of the best midfield threes in the Premier League this season” is perfect for the Reds.

Want more breaking transfer lines from original sources? Add TEAMtalk as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list for news you can trust.

‘Complete midfielder’ Anderson is perfect for Liverpool

Talking up his assets and explaining why Liverpool would be wise to launch a move to bring Anderson to Anfield, McGuire thinks the £100m asking price is well worth it for the Reds.

‘In modern-day football, midfielders get placed in buckets. The Forest No. 8 could find himself in every single one of these buckets. He’s a game-changer in every single phase, and against Liverpool, he showed exactly what the Reds are missing,’ McGuire wrote.

‘He showed why he should be top of their wishlist this summer. He showed why the £100million fee would be reasonable.’

Explaining the role he could fulfil at Anfield and how he could combine the roles that Gravenberch and Mac Allister do for Liverpool, he added: ‘Right now, Slot favours a midfield pivot of Gravenberch and Mac Allister. On occasion, Dominik Szoboszlai starts in a deeper role and Curtis Jones has his time in the XI. All are very good at certain things, but you wouldn’t really class any of them as someone who can do it all.

‘Szoboszlai has been unbelievable this season but he’s suited to this heroball approach he’s had to adopt. In a double pivot, he can be lacking without the ball.

‘Mac Allister, for everything he’s good at, doesn’t have the engine or the physicality to bully opponents now. Gravenberch is a cheatcode when pressed, but on-ball he is lacking as a passer.’

McGuire has also backed up our reports that local hero Jones could well be sold and now faces a huge decision on his future after talks over a new deal stalled.

McGuire added: ‘Jones divides opinion and looks likely to be sold this summer.’

Finally, in urging Liverpool to future-proof their midfield, he concluded: ‘Heading into Sunday’s game against Liverpool, Anderson had covered more ground in the Premier League than any other player this season.

‘Against the Reds, he had four shots and created two chances, all while dominating defensively. This season, he’s joint-top within the Forest squad for chances created alongside Morgan Gibbs-White. He’s joint-top for expected assists (xA) with Omari Hutchinson.

‘He’s rivalling attacking midfielders for chance creation. He’s third within the squad for successful dribbles per 90, second for successful tackles and third for interceptions.

‘The 23-year-old does everything, and he does it well.

‘If Liverpool want to future-proof their midfield and give it something it is desperately lacking, Anderson is the must-buy if money, like last summer, is no object.’

Latest Liverpool news: Game over for Robertson; £56.6m Swede wanted

Meanwhile, Andy Robertson is now a “certainty” to leave Anfield this summer, a trusted journalist has revealed, and with five clubs likely to battle it out for his signature, the Reds have been linked with an elite £61.2m-rated replacement to compete with Milos Kerkez.

Elsewhere, Liverpool are considering a move to sign a quality Swedish midfielder from Eintracht Frankfurt in the summer transfer window, according to reports in the German media.

The German news outlet states it will take up to €65million (£56.6m, $76.8m) to convince Frankfurt to sell their star man, who, according to the report, is ‘in a league of his own’.

In other news, we exclusively revealed on Wednesday that .