Manchester City seriously considering double swoop for Elliot Anderson and Sandro Tonali | OneFootball

Manchester City are giving genuine consideration to signing both Newcastle United’s Sandro Tonali and Nottingham Forest’s Elliot Anderson this summer, as per a new report.

The Blues have been locked in talks with Forest for weeks over Anderson, with a third formal bid now being prepared after a second proposal worth £106 million plus £15 million in bonuses was rejected by owner Evangelos Marinakis. Personal terms with the England international midfielder have already been agreed.

City’s interest in Tonali has run alongside that pursuit for some time, though the picture shifted recently as Tottenham entered the race under manager Roberto De Zerbi, with the Italian previously framed as a fallback option rather than a parallel target for executives at the Etihad Stadium.

The idea of signing both midfielders is not new either – City were previously reported to be eyeing a double swoop for Tonali and Anderson as far back as March – before Forest’s valuation of Anderson and Newcastle’s resistance over Tonali pushed the conversation toward an either-or framing.

With Anderson’s deal edging closer to completion, attention has now turned to whether Manchester City would actually follow through on signing both rather than treating one as cover for the other.

Report: City considering Tonali ‘as well as’ Anderson

According to The Athletic’s Daniel Taylor, City are giving genuine consideration to signing Tonali “as well as” Anderson, rather than viewing the Newcastle midfielder purely as a contingency plan.

The update suggests Hugo Viana‘s recruitment department have not ruled out a second major midfield addition even with Anderson’s £120 million-plus move nearing the finish line, with the pair seen as complementary rather than competing profiles within incoming Manchester City manager Enzo Maresca‘s preferred system.

Doubling up on both deals would represent an extraordinary outlay even by City’s recent spending standards, with Tonali still valued by Newcastle at around €100 million on top of whatever fee is eventually agreed for Anderson.

Could Man City really sign both Tonali and Anderson?

The financial scale alone makes a double deal a significant undertaking, with City already facing a club-record outlay for Anderson before any additional money is committed to Newcastle for Tonali.

Newcastle’s stance has not softened privately, with the Magpies still understood to value Tonali in the region of €100 million and the 25-year-old under contract until 2029, meaning any departure would likely require him to force the issue himself.

Tottenham’s entry into the race adds a further complication, with De Zerbi’s pursuit of Tonali running in direct competition with City’s interest, while Manchester United and Arsenal have also circled the Italy international at various points this season.

Whether City formalise interest in both players before the window closes remains to be seen, but with Anderson’s arrival appearing increasingly close to being finalised, the bigger story by deadline day may end up being whether Viana has the appetite – and the budget – to add Tonali on top.