Replacing Elliot Anderson - Part 3

In this final instalment, we'll look at players who can replace Anderson's progressive attributes, and perhaps even add more of a scoring threat too.

You can read Part 1 (looking at English based players) & Part 2 (looking at players who could replace Anderson’s defensive qualities) of this series by clicking on the links!

We’ve already spent a bit of time looking at some domestic targets, plus some players that would help cover some of the defensive gaps in Forest’s midfield after Anderson’s departure. Today, we’ll look at some options that can help Forest progress the ball forward, and therefore make the side more dangerous in attack.

Victor Froholdt

Starting with somewhat of a familiar face in FC Porto’s Victor Froholdt - the Danish midfielder started in Sean Dyche’s first game in charge last October, and came off the bench in both legs of the Europa League Quarter Final.

His defensive numbers are far lower than Anderson’s - but we must take into account that the 22 year old has been playing for one of the strongest teams in the league, so it is to be expected that the volume of his defensive actions would be quite low.

In possession, Frohold provided a real attacking threat from the right of Porto’s midfield 3 (the only position he played), scoring 6 goals and assisting another 6 too.

He’s very adept at carrying the ball, particularly from inside his own final third on the right edge of the box. We can see also that he creates plenty of chances from the inside right channel. This obviously means he is likely not a candidate to replace Anderson on the left of a midfield pair - but if Forest were to switch systems to play with Sangare behind 2 central midfielders, Froholdt would be a great, young option in the right ‘8’ spot.

Because of the team he’s playing for, Froholdt hasn’t been able to demonstrate the all-round game that we know Anderson has. Although from memory in his appearances against Forest, I saw a player with a very high work-rate, and a knack of getting into some dangerous places when his side have the ball.

For Porto, the data suggests Froholdt uses this ability to get into dangerous areas to be heavily involved right at the end of phases of possession - he ranks very highly as a Box Crasher & a Locksmith.

Froholdt would give Forest a completely different option in the midfield, one they’ve not really had before. Anderson’s 4 goals last season is the most from a Forest central midfielder in the Premier League since promotion, and it’s only Danilo that made it to 3 goals too.

Porto signed him from Copenhagen only last summer for a reported fee of around €20m with some bonuses and a small sell on fee. His contract runs until at least 2030, so in my opinion any potential buyer is likely going to need to go north of £45m to have a chance of signing him.