^ ^ ‘Way off it’ – Man Utd and Arsenal urged to reconsider transfer move for £100m star

Arsenal and Manchester United are just two of the clubs interested (Picture: Getty)

Danny Mills believes that Manchester United and Arsenal transfer target Elliot Anderson is ‘way off’ the level required to be considered one of England’s best current midfielders.

Anderson has seen his stock rise immensely over the past couple of seasons with his super consistency in the heart of Nottingham Forest’s midfield.

The 23-year-old has also excelled on the international stage, forming a rock-solid partnership with Declan Rice after being handed his debut by Thomas Tuchel last year.

And those performances have already caught the eye of several top Premier League clubs, with a potential bidding war set to ensue for the combative midfilder.

Reports suggest that Manchester City are currently leading the race to sign Anderson, but both Unitd and Arsenal are also said to be interested in pursuing a deal after the World Cup.

Forest are said to be holding out for a fee of around £100million for their prize asset, but former England defender Mills questioned whether Anderson has reached that level yet.

Discussing Anderson’s role in the England squad, Mills told talkSPORT: ‘Is he really good enough at international level to win a World Cup?

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Elliot Anderson is attracting plenty of transfer interest (Picture: Getty)

‘Do I look at Anderson and go: ‘He is the best player in the position in the country’. He’s way off it.

‘What about Adam Wharton? For the last two years, it’s all been ‘Adam Wharton’s going to be the next best thing’.’

Not everyone is in agreement with Mills, however, as Rio Ferdinand urged his former club to make Anderson a top priority for the summer to partner Kobbie Mainoo next season.

‘Beginning of the season everyone was talking about [Carlos] Baleba, he seems to have gone off the boil a little bit form wise,’ Ferdinand said last week.

Ex-England international Danny Mills is yet to be fully convinced by Anderson (Picture: Getty Images)

‘Elliot Anderson, he seems to have jumped to the front of the queue. I think he’s a wonderful player.

‘I think Elliot Anderson is the right type not only of player but character, I thin he’d be a good addition to the squad.

‘Tonali is a big talent that everyone is talking about, Guimaraes is another big talent that everyone is talking about.

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He HAS to go blud… right? 🤔 Arsenal fans give their verdict on whether their manager, Mikel Arteta, will still be at the North London outfit if they do NOT win any trophies this season from the position they’re in. #mikelarteta #arsenal #footballfans #premierleague #trophy

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‘But I just think the type of midfielder United need is somebody who is a bit more all-action, who can cover ground, who is dynamic, who is robust, strong, who can drive a team.

‘Right now Anderson seems to be ticking those boxes.’

Asked about speculation over his future at Forest while away with England, Anderson said his full focus was on ensuring his current side remain in the league going into next season.

‘Obviously we’ve got the World Cup this summer so all my eyes are on that,’ he said. ‘Playing for England, I’ve got the badge on now so that’s all I’m thinking about at the moment.

‘I want it that way [to be guaranteed a start]. But I’ve got a season left with Forest.

‘I’ve got plenty of games and there’s plenty of time until then. I’ve got to keep my standards high and make sure that happens.’

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^ ^ Liverpool ‘put four players up for sale’ including Alexis Mac Allister

Liverpool are ready to listen to offers for Federico Chiesa and Alexis Mac Allister (Getty)

Liverpool are prepared to sell four first-team players this summer including Alexis Mac Allister and Cody Gakpo, according to reports.

After winning the Premier League title last season, Arne Slot’s side have struggled for consistency this term and currently sit fifth in the table, 21 points behind leaders Arsenal.

Liverpool still have hope of winning silverware this season as they remain in the Champions League where they will play Paris Saint-Germain in the quarter-final next week, while they will meet Manchester City in the FA Cup quarter-final on Saturday.

According to The Sun, Liverpool have put plans in place for a ‘major summer clearout’ and are ready to sell four first-team regulars – Mac Allister, Gakpo, Joe Gomez and Federico Chiesa.

The report adds that Curtis Jones’ future is ‘uncertain’, while Andy Robertson is also set to leave after nine seasons at Anfield.

Cody Gakpo could leave Liverpool this summer (Getty)

Liverpool could also lose Ibrahima Konate, whose contract with the club is due to expire this summer.

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Meanwhile, Mohamed Salah has confirmed that he will cut short the two-year contract he signed last season and will leave Liverpool at the end of the season.

Speaking about Salah’s exit this week, Slot said: ‘I knew, so it wasn’t new news to me, but I think it was very good to hear and see all the reactions of his team-mates, but also from everywhere around the world, for what he has done for this football club and for football in general.

‘I’ve mainly seen this as a fan, so watching football, seeing him playing at Liverpool, doing all these special things that he’s done for this club. Of course, in the fixtures against [Manchester] City but in all the other fixtures as well. He broke record after record after record.

‘Then I started working with him and already the first day I was impressed by his professionalism because as with any season, it starts with a test that shows how much they did in the off-season and he beat all of them. He was the fittest player that came back, and I think that’s the ideal situation that you want as a manager: that your star player comes back as fit as he did.

‘He had nothing to prove, but for himself he had a lot to prove because Mo always thinks he has to prove something every three days. That hunger never stops and that is something that I find most special about him.

‘So many good players around the world [and] he’s definitely one of them in the last 10 years, that everybody talks about being one of the best there is and was in the last 10 years.

‘To show that hunger every three days, that professionalism, that commitment to the club, to the team, to wanting to score again, always wanting to play – when you take him out three minutes before the end, he’s like, ‘Maybe I could have scored one extra!’ – that is what stands out for me.

‘Everything he’s done for the club, but the moment I started working with him I knew it after one day, let alone after a few weeks or months, that it isn’t a coincidence that he’s been so influential in the last 10 years in football.’

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^ ^ Alan Shearer’s FA Cup predictions including Man City vs Liverpool

Former England and Newcastle United striker Alan Shearer (Picture: Getty)

As players return from the international break, all eyes turn to the FA Cup where eight teams are looking to secure their place in a Wembley semi-final.

Fresh off their Carabao Cup triumph against Arsenal, Manchester City will look to keep alive their hopes of a cup double when they host Liverpool in Saturday’s early kick-off.

Arne Slot’s side has endured a frustrating second season in England, and the Dutchman could well need silverware if he is to avoid the sack at the end of the season.

Later on Saturday, Chelsea will look to end their four-match winless run when they host struggling League One outfit Port Vale at Stamford Bridge.

Port Vale produced an upset against Sunderland in the last round to reach the quarter-finals, and will be huge underdogs once again against the Club World Cup Champions.

Arsenal conclude Saturday’s FA Cup action with a potentially tricky trip to St Mary’s to face in-form Southampton before West Ham and Leeds United meet at the London Stadium on Sunday.

As ever, England legend and Betfair ambassador Alan Shearer has revealed his FA Cup predictions to Metro.

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Manchester City v Liverpool

Manchester City are on for the cup double (Picture: Getty)

The confidence and the belief that City will have after winning the Carabao Cup, and the way they did, will give them great belief and confidence to go again. There’s a lot of talk about Pep, and will he be here next season? Obviously, there’s a lot of talk about Liverpool and how poor they’ve been.

For both clubs, there are huge talking points, but I think City will have enough to get through and I think they could go all the way in the FA Cup.

Prediction – Manchester City win

Chelsea v Port Vale

I have done the comms for Chelsea a couple of times in the FA Cup this season. They weren’t great at Wrexham, but they don’t have to be, they’ve managed to get through abd sometimes that is all you have to do in these competitions. But there is a lot of pressure on Chelsea at the moment.

I don’t think Chelsea are a top-quality outfit, in terms of where they should be, what they’ve spent, but I do think they’ll have enough to get through to the semi-finals this weekend.

Prediction – Chelsea win

Southampton v Arsenal

Arsenal have a number of injury concerns (Picture: Getty)

I think Arsenal will know and they’ll understand how tough this fixture is against Southampton, particularly on the back of what happened two weeks ago in the Carabao Cup.

Everyone’s looking at them, and the pressure is on them. I think Southampton could give them a really difficult game, and they are flying at the moment in terms of where they were to where they are now in the Championship. I think they’ll make it very difficult, but I think Arsenal will have enough to get through.

If Arsenal get knocked out, it would be incredibly tough for them, mentally, to go on and achieve what they want to achieve if they don’t get through this weekend. But I think they’ll get through.

Prediction – Arsenal win

West Ham v Leeds

You always have to try and get belief and a momentum and all those things, I think it’s hugely important especially in games like this for both sides who are struggling in the league.

West Ham vs Leeds is a massive game, albeit not as big as it could be if it was a league game, because you know what you’d prefer. It’s a great chance for either side to try and build a little bit of momentum and go again, and with West Ham being at home, I think they’ll have enough to do it, because they’ve got a little bit of form, so I’d go for West Ham.

Prediction – West Ham win

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^ ^ How football’s old heads are rolling back the years and making us feel something again

Hodgson, Warnock and O’Neill are all back in management (Picture: Getty/Metro)

Almost half a century has passed since Roy Hodgson was first appointed as caretaker manager at Bristol City, and this week saw his return to Ashton Gate to help save their season.

You might be sitting there, saying to yourself, had he not retired? Yes, well, not anymore. Hodgson, now 78, seems to be one of those men who doesn’t know what to do with himself in retirement.

He stepped away from football after leaving Crystal Palace in June 2021, only to return as Watford manager in January 2022. He left Watford five months later and announced he wouldn’t be returning to the Premier League, only to take the Palace job again in March 2023, where he stayed for almost a year before being forced to step down due to health issues.

Now, armed with a new fitness regime, one of English football’s favourite uncles is back in the dugout again aged 78. He must like to keep busy.

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Throw him in the deep end much 😅 Former England and Crystal Palace manager, Roy Hodgson, revealed he had no idea about his new club, Bristol City’s, injury crisis before he returned. As a result he joked he’s no longer looking forward to taking charge of the Championship side. #royhodgson #bristolcity #championship #pressconference #injury

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Clubs calling on really quite old men to come out of retirement feels like a bit of a trend.

Martin O’Neill hadn’t managed a team since Nottingham Forest in 2019 when he went back to Celtic last October. He did a good job stabilising the team before he was replaced and put back into retirement, only then to be asked to come back out of retirement again to save them again.

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Martin O’Neill has been in the thick of it at Celtic (Picture: Getty)

Harry Redknapp was pretty much everyone’s favourite pick to halt Spurs’ slide towards relegation before the prospect of his return was ruined by Roberto de Zerbi, while Neil Warnock is caretaker manager at Torquay United 33 years after his first stint in charge.

One thing they bring is certainty – you know exactly what you’ll get with Hodgson or Warnock simply because there is a 50-year back catalogue of work to point to.

In an era where many clubs seem to be having one sort of identity crisis or another, bringing in a familiar face can have a calming effect.

It can be tempting to turn your nose up at these ‘dinosaurs’ who have potentially been left behind by modern coaching, especially due to the recent trend of appointing ‘coaches’ over ‘managers’, whose job it is to focus only on the pitch. Think Fabian Huerzler at Brighton or Keith Andrews at Brentford – both young, up and coming coaches who are cogs in well-oiled machines.

But the quantity and quality of backroom staff these days means that when things start to go wrong, all anyone wants is a manager who can make us feel something, and these old guys are masters at that.

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