Replacing Elliot Anderson - Part 1

Forest are now reportedly £116m better off than they were this time last week, but have a huge hole in their midfield - how can they try to fill it?

This is the first in a multi-part series looking at potential replacements for Elliot Anderson. This article looks at some options who are currently playing in England - over the next few days I’ll be looking further afield. This post is available to all, but please consider a paid subscription to get the next parts direct to your inbox, as well as all previous & future articles!

Such is the talent that Elliot Anderson possesses, we can start off by saying that it is practically impossible for Forest to find themselves a like-for-like replacement in a single transfer.

The likelihood is they’ll be looking to recruit two players in central midfield. This will take their current squad options up to 5, and Forest will hope they’ll be able to invest in players with different profiles that when combined can cover the skill gap that Anderson’s departure will create.

Clearly this isn’t ideal - but that’s the unfortunate reality of the situation in my opinion. So with that in mind over the next few days I’ll dig in to some potential replacements for him. Firstly, let’s look at some domestic targets that Forest reportedly (and in some cases hopefully!) have their eye on.

Lucas Bergvall

It was reported recently by numerous outlets that Forest were interested in Tottenham’s young Swedish midfielder, after he expressed his desire to leave the club for more regular football. Although not the same player, there’s some similarities in Bergvall & Anderson that probably appeal to both parties.

Bergvall is a player who is looking to find consistent game time - just as Anderson was when he left Newcastle two summers ago. Bergvall’s own versatility has caused him some unfortunate issues - like Anderson he can play almost anywhere in the midfield (including in wide areas), therefore it’s been very difficult for him to hold down a single spot in the side.

This pretty even split of playing time across multiple positions, combined with just over 1,000 minutes in the Premier League this season, does make it pretty difficult to analyse his game purely on data - so we have to keep these small sample sizes in mind.

The above chart compares Anderson’s performances for Forest this season in a midfield 2, against Bergvall’s performances for Tottenham in a midfield 3. Bergvall (in blue) looks to show more of an attaking threat, whilst his possession numbers are very similar.

Defensively though is the big difference, and this on first look is a bit of a worry if the idea is for him to be Anderson’s main replacement. No player in the top European leagues had as many successful or attempted defensive actions per 90 than Elliot Anderson - whereas Bergvall sits around the bottom 25th percentile in this area of the game.

He was also the least likely central midfielder to intercept an opposition pass or block an opposition shot. But we need to remember two things - the low sample size, and even more importantly what Anderson’s own data looked like the season before he joined Forest.

Doesn’t this look a lot more promising? Anderson’s defensive numbers were significantly lower during his last season for Newcastle in a midfield 3 than they were for Forest in a pair last season - infact, there’s a lot of overlap here in both of the data sets.

We must also remember that when Anderson joined Forest two seasons ago, he had practically no experience of playing in a midfield pair. It’s something I was very vocal on when he was signed - and although judging on what we’ve seen in the last 24 months Anderson would’ve eventually forcd his way into the side anyway, his route to starting position opened up due to Danilo’s very unfortunate opening day injury.

For me, although it sounds like a lot of money, if you can get your hands on a player of Bergvall’s huge potential and (for his age) vast experience for somewhere around £40-£45m, I think it represents it pretty good value deal and one I’d hope Forest would look to get involved in. If Bergvall does indeed join Forest, expect a lot more on him from me!

James Garner

Now this one is perhaps a little unrealistic - but with Everton now reportedly on the hook for a large chunk of compensation that they need to pay out to Burnley, there is a chance that they may need to do a bit of balancing of the books.

James Garner would represent the closest thing Forest could get to a ‘ready-made’ replacement, and as an added positive they wouldn’t have to worry about any adjustment to the league, something that caught the club out with the majority of their recruitment last summer.

Garner is a very hard-working player, who also has the ability to progress the ball forward from deeper areas in a similar fashion to Anderson. The biggest difference is that Anderson is far more likely to carry the ball forward than the Everton midfielder.

The ex Man Utd man’s defensive activity almost matches the height of Anderson, but I would argue he’s a slightly more disciplined player out of possession. What you also get from him is that added versatility to fill in in full-back positions when required - not something you’d ideally want to start with, but definitely an in-game option if Vitor Pereira wanted to make some quick switches to the tactics.

One thing I am sure that Forest will be keeping in mind (but something I think that can sometimes be forgotten by fans), is where these potential replacements want to do their work. Despite Anderson’s incredible work rate and ability to cover ground - he does most of his work on the left of the field rather than the right.

Garner - who like Anderson is right-footed - also does the majority of his work in the left half of the field. This is very important because I don’t imagine Forest would like to move Ibrahim Sangare over to the other side after he’s finally settled into his spot in the lineup.

Of course, there’s always the chance Forest would go to a 4-3-3 system, but there is still nobody in the squad who can fill the LCM spot in my opinion. Garner definitely could.

The big problem of course is the transfer fee - I’d imagine Garner would be interested in returning to The City Ground, but if you want to buy a ‘sure thing’, you have to pay for it too. I find it hard to believe that Everton would want to do business for less than £50m - and to be honest I’m not sure Forest would go that high either.

Curtis Jones

Not for the first time, it seems like Liverpool’s Curtis Jones is being linked with moves away from Anfield. Jones has the profile that matches what Forest have done previously with their transfer business - a player from a ‘bigger’ club who perhaps needs a change of scenery. Perhaps slightly different to the ‘reclamation projects’ that Forest had looked at previously when there was a little less money in the bank.

Jones spent a lot of his time playing at right back last season - that’s not a position anyone sees him in long-term, he played just over 700 minutes there in the Premier League as Arne Slot found it tough to replace Trent Alexander-Arnold.

I’ve got a few reservations around Curtis Jones, and the biggest one came from one of his games in the Champions League at right back. As Liverpool were down 2-1 at home against PSV, Jones stood completely still after a Konate mistake and watched on as his man finished a rebound opportunity to extend the lead to 2 goals. You can see him clearly at the bottom of the screen here just watching the attack unfold.

This on its own is bad enough - what in my opinion made things even worse though was Jones coming out to do the post-match interview on TV and said "I don't have the answers. Honestly, I don't. It's just unacceptable… I'm past being angry inside. I'm at the point now where I just don't have the words.”

These are very strong words from a player who just stood and watched the club he supports go 2 goals down to an Eredivisie side in the Champions League. It makes me question his mentality a little and leads me to believe he wouldn’t fit at Forest, especially considering there’s a high likelihood there’s going to be stretches in every season where things aren’t going the club’s way.

It will come as no surprise then to see Jones’ overall data profile look very similar to Anderson’s, but without the defensive impact and actions. Yes, he was playing for a team with more of the ball, but Anderson is certainly much happier to do the dirty work.

Now, there’s no doubting that Jones is a talented player - and although recent rumours that Liverpool may be prepared to let him go for as little as £25m may be wide of the mark, any fee close to that level is one that Forest would be silly not to look at.

As I said above though, I’m just not sure he has the right mentality to fit in with this squad - and like many players that I’ll be bringing up in the next week or so, to get the best out of him Forest would likely need to change the preferred formation to a 4-3-3 to mask his defensive deficiencies.

Shea Charles

Southampton’s Northern Irish central midfielder Shea Charles is very high on my list of replacements for Anderson - he’s a player I’d love to see Forest go in for and I’d be really disappointed if he makes the move to Leeds who have apparently had a £20m bid rejected.

A graduate of Manchester City’s academy, Charles joined Southampton in the summer of 2023 on a deal that reportedly expires next summer. He helped them return to the Premier League that season, but was then sent out on loan to Sheffield Wednesday as The Saints got relegated again.

Last season, he helped Saints reach the play-offs before they were eventually expelled, but for me his performances were more than enough to show he deserves a chance at Premier League level.

Charles’ data profile is very strong, and as a player who spends most of his time on the left of a midfield 2, would slot in well in Forest’s side if they stuck with a 4-2-3-1 system.

Charles’ profile is very well rounded - there’s not much he can’t do as a central midfielder from a data stand point, that’s a great place to start when looking for a replacement. In my limited viewing of him over the last season - he’s always been the one that impressed for Southampton & Northern Ireland, and it looks like he loves a big game too.

The big question mark around him is obviously the big step up to Premier League level - he’s been a solid-to-great performer at Championship level for 3 seasons now, and at 22 this is the natural step. I’d love to see Forest take a stronger look at the Championship for new signings because they should find it much easier to adapt upon joining than those signings from Europe & South America.

The lack of noise around him from a Forest perspective makes this seem fairly unlikely though to me unfortunately - I imagine Leeds will up their offer slightly to around £25m and that will probably be enough to get a deal done - if that is the case I’m certainly not looking forward to seeing him rock up to The City Ground on opening day!

Hayden Hackney

Hackney is a player Forest were reportedly interested in back in January, so it seemed pretty weird to not hear much about any further interest when Everton attempted to lowball Middlesbrough with an offer lower than the North East’s club apparent £20m valuation.

For that price - similar to Shea Charles - I think Forest should be all over this potential deal. Hackney offers far more going forward than Charles - probably more than Anderson too if we’re looking purely at goals and assists - but it’s without the ball where I think he’d struggle to fit in at Forest.

If Forest were to go in this direction - then I think this would be the biggest signal that Pereira & the club are giving serious consideration to moving away from a 4-2-3-1 formation. For me, I don’t think Forest could go into the season with someone like Hackney playing alongside Ibrahim Sangaré in a midfield pair.

I think the only way Hackney could fit in to the set up that Forest used to close out the season, would be to put him closest to the striker and keep Gibbs-White drifting in from the left - but that in itself raises questions around how happy Gibbs-White would be to stay wider (even if it resulted in more attacking contributions & freedom), and also the game time of Callum Hudson-Odoi.

The really interesting thing about Hackney (and another reason why he probably can’t be a direct replacement for Anderson), is where he likes to get on the ball. No matter which position he was used in for Middlesbrough, the same trends always appear.

He tends to pop up on the right side of the field (the 3rd pitch) to receive the ball - but the majority of his attacking actions come on the left edge of the box. This is a weird quirk that suggests Hackney can get involved in phases of play early on, before trying to help finish the moves on the other side of the field with either an assist or a shot.

Like Shea Charles, if the price tag is hovering around the £20m mark, I think it’s a deal Forest have to seriously consider. Young English players of Hackney’s quality don’t come on the market too often at such a (relatively) low price - and seeing as he’s jumping up a level it would be fair to say he wouldn’t be demanding immediate first-team football either.

Over the weekend and into next week, I’ll be looking at some other potential targets who aren’t playing in England. Please consider a paid subscription to get those posts direct to your inbox, as well as access to all previous and future articles!