One of the worst things about Newcastle United selling Elliot Anderson is the fact Eddie Howe has already confirmed something similar will happen again.
Anderson has gone from strength-to-strength since leaving Newcastle United, where he showed a lot of promise without ever really nailing down a first-team berth.
The 22-year-old Newcastle academy graduate shone for Nottingham Forest as they qualified for Europe for the first time in 30 years last season. This summer, he played a starring role in England’s U21 European Championship win.
Newcastle didn’t want to sell Anderson, but were forced to due to the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR). Had they not sold Anderson and Yankuba Minteh in the summer of 2024, the club risked a points deduction for breaching PSR rules.
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Given his status as an academy graduate, the money received for him went down as pure profit, although Newcastle did have to pay for Forest goalkeeper Odysseas Vlachodimos in return.
Watching the Geordie lad flourish elsewhere is painful for Newcastle fans. Sadly, Howe has already confirmed it’ll happen again.
What Eddie Howe said when selling Elliot Anderson in 2024
Shortly after Anderson’s £35million transfer to Forest in 2024, the Newcastle United manager was asked about the impact of the PSR rules.
Oddly enough, the rules actually encourage clubs to sell their academy graduates, given they count as pure profit on the balance sheet.
That feels counterintuitive, particularly for a player like Anderson who could have feasibly played for the club for many years to come.
Still, such is the need to balance the books with PSR, Howe was at pains to stress it would happen again at every club including Newcastle.
“No one internally wanted to make that sale – but we had to,” he said in 2024 (via The Chronicle).
“So I think that one is a very unusual one because I think that will be happening again, not just here, but at other football clubs, when you sell footballers for financial reasons.”
How Newcastle United feel about selling Lewis Miley
The most natural comparison to Anderson in the current Newcastle United squad is Lewis Miley.
The teenager is another academy product and could potentially attract a big fee, which the club would keep for themselves if they did cash in. Miley has been linked with a move away from Newcastle, having struggled for game time when returning from injury last season.
Thankfully, however, Newcastle have no plans to sell Miley. Howe wants to build around the midfielder, who looks set for a big career.
Perhaps Newcastle will need to sell an academy graduate again at some point. Luckily, it doesn’t look like it’ll happen to Miley.
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