England international Elliot Anderson will become one of the most expensive football players ever after Manchester City reached a deal to sign the midfielder from Nottingham Forest for a reported fee of 116 million pounds ($155 million).
Anderson's move will be completed in the coming weeks after he has finished playing at the World Cup, City and Forest said in separate statements released on Thursday.
City said Anderson underwent his medical examination in Kansas City and "we look forward to welcoming him to Manchester in due course."
The fee would be a club record for City – eclipsing the 100 million pounds paid for winger Jack Grealish in 2021 – and among the biggest ever in the Premier League, alongside those of Alexander Isak (125 million pounds) and Florian Wirtz (up to 116 million pounds) to Liverpool last year and Moises Caicedo (115 million pounds) to Chelsea in 2023.
The world-record fee remains the 222 million euros ($262 million) that Paris Saint-Germain paid Barcelona for Brazil star Neymar in August 2017.
Forest have made a significant profit on Anderson after signing him for a reported 35 million pounds in 2024 from Newcastle, which were under pressure to sell to balance the books and meet increasingly stringent financial rules in English soccer.
At that time, Anderson was a raw but talented central midfielder. Now he is an all-action England regular who plays in the mold of Liverpool great Steven Gerrard, with his standout qualities – relentless pressing, physicality and incisive passing – among the most sought-after in the modern game, especially in the grueling Premier League.
Anderson may be seen by City as a long-term successor to Ballon d'Or winner Rodri as a ball-playing holding midfielder. Rodri's career has been set back over the past two years because of injuries.
And City needed a big signing in midfield to make up for the end-of-season departure of stalwart Bernardo Silva, who let his contract expire after nine years at the club and has recently joined Real Madrid.
It's the first big signing in the new era under Enzo Maresca, who arrived as manager this week to succeed Pep Guardiola.
It seems top clubs are willing to pay more for central midfielders than any other position at the moment.
Look at Chelsea, whose midfield includes Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez, who joined from Benfica for 106.7 million pounds in January 2023. That was briefly a British-record fee.
Arsenal bought England midfielder Declan Rice from West Ham in a deal worth a reported 105 million pounds in 2023 and he was a key factor in the team's title-winning campaign last season.
And on Thursday, Tottenham paid a club-record fee to sign Portugal midfielder Mateus Fernandes from West Ham for a reported 85 million pounds and were set to sign Italy midfielder Sandro Tonali in a deal the BBC reported could be worth 100 million pounds.