Eddie Howe shares a very honest verdict on the sale of Elliot Anderson from Newcastle to Nottingham Forest

Forest fans have already seen five new faces walk through the doors at the City Ground this summer and that could be set to increase.

Talks over the potential addition of Riquelme Fillip are said to be now advanced, with Forest confident of reaching an agreement soon.

However, the big addition of the summer was Elliot Anderson, who landed from Newcastle United last month.

And his former manager Eddie Howe recently shared his very honest thoughts on the midfielder’s departure from Tyneside.

Eddie Howe shares his honest verdict on Elliot Anderson’s exit for Forest

Forest paid around £35m to bring Anderson in this summer, and that’s a fair change for a player who wasn’t exactly a regular at Newcastle.

Odysseas Vlachodimos went the other way as he left Forest for the Toon for an undisclosed fee.

However, Newcastle were forced to sell Anderson as they – like Forest – found themselves struggling with the PSR deadline last month.

Also, like Forest, Newcastle managed to balance the cards, but they did so after losing one of their most promising youngsters.

Speaking to the club’s media during Newcastle’s pre-season trip to Germany, Howe expressed his disappointment at finding Anderson.

“Elliot was very sad for us because he is a player we loved both on and off the pitch. Everyone here at Newcastle has worked so hard to develop him and his talents,” Howe told the Newcastle YouTube channel.

“And through PSR he really had to, the club was forced to make a decision through no fault of his own and it was just, yeah, I wasn’t comfortable with myself, but it was almost something we had to do.

“I had no choice. We wish Elliott well. I’m sure he’s going to have an incredible career.”

Elliot Anderson has started well at Nottingham Forest

Anderson got 45 minutes last weekend against Chesterfield where he made his debut for the Reds.

And he was also handed the second half of Spain’s game against childhood rivals Sunderland on Friday night.

It was clear the 21-year-old impressed in his second appearance in a Forest shirt, with journalist Sarah Clapson gushing about the summer signing.

“Positive from the start. Created an early opportunity for himself with a good run into the box. He latched on to Sangare’s pass and worked the keeper over,” she wrote for the Nottingham Post.

Howe was clearly devastated to lose the Newcastle academy product and it’s already starting to show why.

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