THERE was a time when England’s plot to steal Elliot Anderson back from Scotland barely made a dent in the news agenda.
Now the silky Geordie is starting for the Three Lions at the World Cup, is primed for a £120million move and, as a result, commanding column inches with the best of them.
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Elliot Anderson starred for the Three Lions against Croatia Credit: Getty
Anderson accepted a Scotland call up before withdrawing and choosing England Credit: PA
Manchester City priority target Anderson has been the find of the Thomas Tuchel era, solving the No6 headache that bothered Sir Gareth Southgate for his eight years in charge.
It had become such a problem position for the former boss that he even tried full-back Trent Alexander-Arnold, persona non grata under Tuchel, in midfield at the last Euros.
But Anderson’s emergence has put that selection dilemma firmly in the past.
The 23-year-old’s performance quarterbacking Tuchel’s midfield at the home of the Dallas Cowboys against Luka Modric and Co underlined why City want him so badly.
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Any nerves he had ahead of his first appearance at a major tournament, he hid well.
He looked cool as a cucumber as he came off the bus and inspected the pitch an hour and a half before kick-off – and even more so in the 90 minutes that followed.
Anderson happily picked up the ball off his shaky backline throughout, sparking attacks from his deep-lying position.
He regularly dropped into his defence to make a back five at times when out of possession, while he also pushed out to the right to help out Reece James defensively too.
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Gareth Southgate could have benefited from having this version of Anderson available Credit: Getty
The Nottingham Forest star even grabbed an assist with a ball over the top to Jude Bellingham 80 seconds into the second half to make it 3-2.
Anderson showed the kind of physicality captain Harry Kane had asked for pre-match when he shrugged off Josko Gvardiol with a shoulder barge early on.
One of the reasons City and his other suitors admire the Nottingham Forest man so much is his ability to win the ball back.
Anderson pinched possession 306 times this season in the Premier League which, staggeringly, was NINETY-SIX more than any other player in the division.
That ability to intercept was on show here, as he won the ball more than any other England player throughout the game.
In fact he made the most defensive contributions of any of his team-mates.
Yet no one would have called this trajectory for Anderson even two years ago.
The Whitley Bay-born playmaker came through Newcastle’s famous Wallsend Boys Club, like Alan Shearer and Michael Carrick.
He used to have the great Paul Gascoigne watching his matches as Gazza’s nephew Cameron was in the same team.
But it was Scotland’s youth sides he played up until Lee Carsley helped convince him to switch to the country of his birth and play for England’s Under-21s.
JattvibeSport exclusively revealed the persuasion plan at the time but such was Anderson’s low profile, it went under the radar.
This was around the time, in 2024, that Newcastle were forced to flog Anderson to Nottingham Forest because of pesky profit and sustainability Premier League rules.
And it is former interim head coach Carsley whom everyone owes a debt for Anderson’s swap from talented, if a bit plodding, winger to match-controlling anchorman.
It came in an intra-squad friendly at St George’s Park ahead of the 2025 Under-21 Euros – which England would go on to win – when Anderson was struggling to get on the ball.
Lee Carsley played a significant role in Anderson’s development Credit: Getty
Anderson was a standout performer in the Prem this season Credit: Getty
Carsley recommended he drop deeper and, as Anderson later reflected, “I haven’t looked back”.
That sentiment is certainly true of his senior career, ever since an assured debut in September’s 2-0 win over Andorra at Villa Park at the start of the season.
He has gone from strength to strength, with his fabulous individual season at Forest putting him to the top of City’s list of summer transfer targets.
Anderson’s performance here was one that Croatia great Modric – whose 199th appearance ended before the hour – would have appreciated.
While tellingly it was Declan Rice, rather than Anderson, who came off for the final 20 minutes.
Though, admittedly, the Arsenal man has far more minutes in the tank of late.
It was a performance that called to mind Kalvin Phillips at Euro 2020, when the then Leeds man shone alongside Rice against Croatia in his own first-ever tournament appearance.
Phillips went on to join City later – just like Anderson has been tipped to do – and it all went wrong.
But Anderson in midfield for Tuchel looked very right last night.
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