Love them or loathe them, transfer rumours are a staple of the football landscape. But not all gossip was created equal. We’re here to help you sort the wheat from the chaff – so here are the pick of today’s football transfers, ranked.
Newcastle want to re-sign Elliot Anderson from Nottingham Forest
Rumour rating: 8
Comparisons between Elliot Anderson and Paul Gascoigne are not only premature but also overblown. One point of comparison between the pair will not be lost on the Geordie nation, however: Gascoigne’s best football came not at St James’ Park but for Tottenham, Rangers and England – much as Anderson, another Newcastle youth product, is now delivering the goods for Nottingham Forest and the national team, rather than Eddie Howe.
Having spent their formative years on Tyneside, the midfielders plied their trade in the senior ranks for barely three years before moving on. Yet the circumstances surrounding their respective departures differed markedly. Gascoigne left behind a club struggling financially, one that had cashed in on Peter Beardsley the previous summer, a decision that left the midfielder distraught. Anderson was sold to comply with Profitability and Sustainability Rules – and never mind that, on paper at least, Newcastle, owned by the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, are among the richest clubs in the world.
“Elliot was a sale we didn’t want to make,” Howe admitted last November. “Nobody at the football club internally wanted to make that sale, but we had to.
“For us to put all the work into Elliot, the academy, the coaches, the time, to then see him leave and now flourish for another Premier League club, isn’t something I think we should be [put] in a position to [have to] do.”
Given the circumstances, speculation that Newcastle want to bring Elliot back to the club makes perfect sense. Why let history repeat itself? Yes, there would be a financial hit involved. It is understood no buy-back clause was included in last summer’s deal with Forest, so Elliot would cost significantly more than he was sold for, whether it was the £35m reported initially or the revised figure of £15m touted subsequently.
But it is believed the midfielder would be receptive to a return and, with Forest currently languishing in the relegation zone and in an ongoing state of upheaval – Sean Dyche became the club’s third manager of the season when he was appointed earlier this month – it does not require a great leap of the imagination to join the dots on this one. After all, what’s the point of being one of the world’s wealthiest clubs if you can’t afford to make up for the odd transfer market misstep?
Manchester United could move for Stuttgart midfielder Angelo Stiller next summer
Rumour rating: 6
It might require a doctorate in astrophysics to understand the intended mechanics of Manchester United’s midfield under Ruben Amorim, but what is clear is that the Portuguese is not happy with his personnel options in that area.
The issue has seen the club linked with just about every Morten, Adam and Elliot in the book, and that list has now been expanded to include Stuttgart midfielder Angelo Stiller. The 24-year-old Germany international would fit the bill as a younger, more dynamic defensive midfield replacement for Casemiro, whose contract expires next summer, and is likely to be cheaper than other rumoured United targets including Morten Hjulmand, Adam Wharton and Elliot Anderson.
Stiller, who came through the youth system at Bayern Munich before joining Hoffenheim, from whom Stuttgart signed him on a four-year deal in 2023. In January, the Munich-born midfielder agreed an extension until the summer of 2028. It has been widely reported that his contract includes a €40m (£35m) release clause that Stuttgart can buy out for £2m. Should the club exercise that right, it is believed Stiller would command a fee in the region of £44m, although that could rise with a strong showing at next summer’s World Cup.
Could it happen? On the one hand, United were credited with interest this summer, and Stiller has openly declared an ambition to play abroad – although not immediately, and not necessarily in England.
“I’m currently not thinking about a move,” he told Sports Illustrated last month. “Generally speaking, I’m interested in moving abroad at some point; I thought Florian Wirtz’s decision to go to Liverpool was cool. But only one thing is certain for me: At the end of my career, I absolutely want to play in the USA, in the MLS. This is 100% my plan, my goal.”
Like Hjulmand, however, Stiller would be an unknown quantity in the Premier League. While coaxing Wharton or Anderson to Old Trafford might cost more – and in the latter’s case may be difficult, given Newcastle’s apparent interest in re-recruiting him – it would seem a safer long-term investment. United were not averse to opening the chequebook to remodel their front line this summer and should have headroom to do so again, making a move for a proven performer in the English top-flight more likely.
Stiller would be a credible option for Amorim, but the success of Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha, respectively recruited from Brentford and Wolves, has established a template that United might be well-advised to consider.
Man United want Conor Gallagher to replace Kobbie Mainoo
Rumour rating: 5
If you believed everything you read, Manchester United would soon have one of the best-stocked larders of midfield talent in Europe. Amorim might welcome such a scenario, of course, but it would no doubt give Sir Jim Ratcliffe sleepless nights as he seeks to reshape the club along more sustainable lines. What then to make of rumours that a move for Conor Gallagher could be in the offing?
The 25-year-old England international, a £36m signing from Chelsea last summer, featured regularly for Atlético last season without nailing down a consistent pace in the starting line-up. Recast in a more defensive mould by Diego Simeone, Gallagher is nothing if not adaptable, and his work rate, passing ability and profile as a box-to-box midfielder would offer United obvious advantages.
Equally, the notion that Gallagher would be regarded as a replacement for Mainoo, who has completed 90 minutes for United on just five occasions since Amorim’s arrival last November, seems absurd. If Amorim is dissatisfied with his existing options, surely it is the players he is currently using in midfield alongside Bruno Fernandes – namely Manuel Ugarte and the soon-to-depart Casemiro – that need replacing?
United declined the opportunity to sign Gallagher this summer, instead moving for goalkeeper Senne Lammens, and at a reported asking price of about £50m, the England man would seem a luxury signing rather than a necessity. At a club where austerity has become the norm since Ratcliffe’s arrival, lavish spending on a player who might not be a guaranteed starter seems unlikely.
