Elliot Anderson arrived at Manchester City carrying enormous expectations after completing a £116m move from Nottingham Forest in the summer. The 24-year-old had established himself as one of the Premier League’s most influential midfielders, and City paid a premium for a player many believed could become central to both club and country.


Anderson’s performances for Forest over the previous two seasons attracted attention from Manchester United and Arsenal, but it was City who secured his signature. European football expert Guillem Balague said on BBC Match of the Day that he asked City manager Enzo Maresca whether he wanted Bournemouth’s Alex Scott or Crystal Palace’s Adam Wharton.

Maresca’s answer was simple: “No.” He added: “Anderson is going to become the key player for England, not just City.”


Anderson is likely to receive a warm reception when he returns to the City Ground on Saturday, with Forest supporters still admiring the midfielder who became such an important figure during his time at the club.

“I know the stadium will be ringing with ‘Geordie Maradona’,” Forest supporter Ellie Molloson told BBC Sport. “It will be bittersweet because we miss him, but we are quite proud of just how fantastic a player he is.”


Strong start at City

Anderson was among the Premier League’s standout central midfielders last season. He led the division in several key categories, including ball touches, possession won, duels contested and fouls won, despite playing for a Forest side that struggled for stability and finished only five points above the relegation zone.


His relentless energy has allowed him to take on responsibilities previously associated with Bernardo Silva and Rodri at City. He has joined a squad that won two trophies last season and remains capable of challenging for major honours again.

While Anderson has not yet matched the league-leading dominance he showed in several metrics last term, his underlying numbers remain impressive. He has won more fouls than any other Premier League player this season, with 28, and ranks second for duels won with 66.


He is also third for successful passes, with 610, and third for touches, with 851. Only Tottenham’s Jan Paul van Hecke and Arsenal’s Declan Rice have completed more successful passes in the opposition half and more line-breaking passes, although both have played at least 66 minutes more than Anderson.


Operating mainly as a deep-lying number six has limited his direct attacking output. He has registered one goal and two assists in 14 appearances this season but provided the assist for Erling Haaland’s winning goal in City’s 3-2 Champions League victory over RB Leipzig on Wednesday.

“He has been amazing,” Haaland said afterwards. “He has had an amazing start to his City career and that is what you expect. You have to come straight in and perform.

“It is not easy to come in, you need to adapt and new players and a new coach, so he has been impressive. Respect.”


Determination behind the scenes

Anderson’s focus was evident during a City training session open to the media before the trip to Leipzig. While several team-mates trained in relaxed groups, he worked alone, repeatedly keeping the ball airborne with intense concentration.

He was also the first player to volunteer in a group drill, later emerging as the winner in an exercise that required dribbling through a slalom before striking the ball into a small net.

Maresca said Anderson’s willingness to learn has stood out since his arrival.


“Knowing him now, he is a guy who wants to learn every day and we sat with him with video [analysis],” the City boss told BBC Sport. “He wants to understand things, he wants to learn and improve and for a manager it’s a dream because you know that he wants to learn and you can do different things.”


Molloson believes Anderson’s intelligence and leadership make him capable of even greater things.

“The way Anderson reads the game, the way he dominates midfield, he is such an intelligent football player and he is so young, there is still so much more to come from him,” she said. “He is a leader on the pitch and I just think he is phenomenal. I think Forest fans would definitely have him back in a heartbeat.”


Adapting to a new role

Maresca values Anderson’s box-to-box ability but has asked him to operate primarily as City’s number six this season. That is a different responsibility from the more expansive role he often performed at Forest.

After City’s 4-1 win over Crystal Palace in August, Anderson admitted he was still adjusting.

“I’m loving [my role but] it’s a bit different to what I’ve been used to. I’ve got to be a bit more structured, that’s what I’m learning, to stay in my position. At Forest I was doing a little bit more,” he said.


His strength, energy and game intelligence make him highly effective when pressing opponents high or wide, winning possession and launching attacks. There have also been occasions when Anderson has single-handedly halted counter-attacks after City’s press has been bypassed.

His ability to carry the ball forward was evident in the build-up to Haaland’s winner at Leipzig, when Anderson drove through midfield before delivering a cross that evoked memories of Kevin de Bruyne.


A lesson still being learned

Anderson’s instinct to chase the ball can occasionally work against him. Because he is often capable of winning it back from opponents, he can react to a player rather than hold his positional shape.

Opponents have begun using that tendency against him. Sunderland’s Enzo Le Fee repeatedly made runs around and beyond Anderson in September, drawing the England midfielder away and leaving space in front of City’s defence.


Paris Saint-Germain and Brighton have also used decoy movement to pull Anderson out of position and create gaps in midfield.

City have experimented with Ayyoub Bouaddi alongside Anderson in midfield. When Anderson leaves his holding position to press, an additional defensive midfielder can help protect the centre of the pitch, although that remains a temporary solution while Anderson adapts to Maresca’s demands.


Pep Guardiola once made a similar observation about Rodri during the Spaniard’s first season at City, saying: “Last season he moved too much. The holding midfielder has to be there, don’t move, be there.” Rodri went on to win the Ballon d’Or in 2024.

City will be encouraged by Anderson’s early impact. His first season has started more convincingly than Rodri’s did in 2020, but both club and player will hope he can develop the positional discipline needed to become the complete successor to the midfielder he was signed to replace.