Elliot Anderson was the most expensive English player until this record was broken by Morgan Rogers shortly after, with a transfer from Aston Villa to Chelsea for £117 million.
Since the 2025-26 season is still ongoing, the owners of the two teams, Khaldoon Al Mubarak (Man City) and Evangelos Marinakis (Nottingham), have had discussions about the Anderson deal. Nottingham's side clearly stated that the minimum value of this contract must exceed 105 million pounds. This is the number Arsenal once spent to recruit Declan Rice from West Ham in 2023. By the summer of 2025, the Premier League record number of 125 million pounds Liverpool had spent to recruit Alexander Isak from Newcastle.
Marinakis initially wanted 126 million pounds, including 106 million pounds in cash and 20 million pounds in achievement bonuses. However, this achievement must also be easy to reach, such as the number of appearances and titles City can win. Man City has set a clause that this amount of 20 million pounds will be paid if the Etihad Stadium team wins the Champions League. However, Nottingham does not think this is feasible. As in the case of Arsenal, they only need to participate in the Champions League to pay West Ham an additional fee for the deal to buy Delcan Rice.
Only when Man United jumped in did Man City become more eager to negotiate with Nottingham and they succeeded. Anderson's salary at the Etihad stadium will reach a maximum of 300,000 pounds/week if performance indicators are guaranteed. The contract of the English midfielder has a term of 5 years, with a 1-year extension clause.
Anderson is a rare rookie in big clubs in the Premier League who is paid sky-high salaries in the first year of joining the new club. Marc Guehi arrived in January 2026 but then proved his ability and was rewarded with a salary equivalent to Anderson.
The reason Man City is determined to buy Anderson despite the high price is because the coaching staff and team leaders believe this is a talented player, who can lead the club's midfield in the coming years. Anderson has good physique, is used to playing at high intensity despite having to play in many competitions.
Not only that, the 23-year-old midfielder was also trained by City and was expected to replace Rodri in midfield. Recently, Man City brought in quite a few midfielders such as Ryan Cherki, Tijjani Reijnders and Nico Gonzalez, but among these, only Gonzalez is more defensive. The Spanish star did not meet expectations, so he may find a new destination when Anderson comes.
Not only Rodri's position (injured), Man City also needs someone to hold the ball in midfield to rotate through the lines like Bernardo Silva (who has moved to Real Madrid). If there is Elliot Anderson, the Manchester team will not worry too much about the midfield when they immediately have a star who is used to playing at high intensity every week in the Premier League.
Man City is innovating under Enzo Maresca after Pep Guardiola left the club. Maresca is known to be meticulous, so when he has chosen Anderson, the Italian coach certainly knows how to use this £116 million contract.
