Newcastle United are pushing to secure the signing of Anthony Elanga from Nottingham Forest.
A new offer has been made by the St James’ Park club worth more than £50million plus bonuses.
Their efforts to finalise a deal with Forest continue and work is also needed on the player side.
The Athletic previously reported that Newcastle had seen a bid in the region of £45million for the 23-year-old rejected by Forest.
Elanga featured in all 38 of Forest’s Premier League games in 2024-25, scoring six goals and providing 11 assists, as the club qualified for the Conference League with a seventh-place finish.
The Sweden international was also the subject of interest from Newcastle last summer. Newcastle were willing to pay a fee worth around £45million ($57m), with the potential package including an initial £30m payment, a swap deal for Paraguay winger Miguel Almiron (valued at £5m, and who has subsequently joined Atlanta United) and two potential further payments of £5m.
The versatile forward joined Forest from Manchester United in a £15m deal in July 2023 and has scored 11 goals in 83 appearances for the club. United are due a significant sell-on fee from any sale by Forest.
How would Elanga suit Newcastle?
Analysis by Ahmed Walid
The right-winger can play on either flank, has shown defensive discipline under Nuno Espirito Santo at Forest, and has the pace and ball-carrying ability to be a menace on attacking transitions. Under Eddie Howe, Newcastle have been a team that thrives on the transition, with the physicality of their midfielders and the speed of their front line essential.
Newcastle’s tendency to attack quickly on the transition plays to Elanga’s strengths. The right-winger’s ability to dribble at a high speed while making wise decisions means he is a threat when his team wins the ball and attacks an unstructured defence.
Last season, Elanga had the most assists from crosses (six) in the Premier League, and he only drops to second place when the stats are adjusted to a per-game basis for players who played at least 900 minutes.
Meanwhile, his expected assists (xA) from crosses per 90 (0.12) was the 12th highest in the league in 2024-25, suggesting he overperformed his data slightly, but that he was still one of the league’s leading threats.
In the wide areas, Newcastle’s passing combinations have been a staple of their attack in recent seasons, and despite Forest not using it as frequently, Elanga has a profile that fits this attacking method.
(Photo: Molly Darlington/Getty Images)