- 16 hours ago
Man Utd’s ‘ONLY’ mistake with Anthony Elanga revealed
Robin Bairner
- 2 Apr 2025 04:30 CDT
- 2 min read
News
Manchester United have been told that they made just one mistake with Anthony Elanga after the Nottingham Forest star consigned the Red Devils to a 1-0 defeat at the City Ground.
Elanga scored the only goal in that clash, which was largely dominated by Ruben Amorim’s side, as he burst from inside his own half to score. The 22-year-old showed an impressive turn of speed and excellent composure to strike what proved the winning goal.
Current ETV
Anthony Elanga
M (R)
Nottingham
Anthony Elanga
M (R)
Nottingham
ETV Range
€26.5M - €32.4M
The Sweden star is having an impressive campaign for third-placed Nottingham Forest, but to lump him in with the likes of Marcus Rashford and Antony in terms of player who are now shining away from Old Trafford is wrong, according to one expert observer.
“The only mistake Man Utd made with Elanga was not getting a higher fee for him,” the Manchester Evening News’ Samuel Luckhurst has argued on X.
“He didn’t score in his last 17 months at the club, hardly started for Ten Hag and they had more established and better potential wingers. United signing Sancho and Antony (bad errors of judgement) separate matters altogether.”
Elanga has five goals and seven assists in the Premier League this season and is on course to go better than he did for Forest last term, when he found the net five times and laid on eight more.
Did Man Utd undersell Elanga?
Amorim said that Elanga perhaps just needed more time.
"You are not talking about players that didn’t play for Manchester United. They were here playing for Manchester United. In here, the pressure is too big sometimes and sometimes you don’t get time," he said.
When Man Utd sold Elanga for €17.5m in the summer of 2023, the winger’s Estimated Transfer Value (ETV) had dipped to just €11.2m, which suggests the Red Devils were able to get value for money for the player.
However, Elanga’s peak ETV prior to that date was €20m, which came as he exploded into the first team, notably scoring away to Atletico Madrid in the Champions League in what appeared to be a breakthrough moment.
His form faded, though, and so too did his ETV. It has now bounced back and will hit €45.6m in FootballTransfers’ April update.
Elanga has discovered his best level once again at Nottingham Forest, as Man Utd found to their cost, yet such were his struggles as he left Old Trafford, it’s tough to be too critical of the sale when taking hindsight out of the equation.
Nevertheless, it’s clear that Nuno Espirito Santo’s side have come out with much the better part of the bargain.
