Ross Wilson has not yet been hired by Newcastle United, but he’s had plenty of dealings with the club already, including buying Elliot Anderson.
Newcastle United have been coping without a sporting director for months after Paul Mitchell’s sudden exit in June.
The Toon struggled to compete in the summer transfer window without a clear leader in negotiations, with Eddie Howe forced to watch on as several top targets went elsewhere.
Howe and Mitchell never saw eye-to-eye on strategy, but the difficulties in the market show how important a sporting director is.
Newcastle have been chasing Ross Wilson for months, with the Nottingham Forest director the prime candidate for the role.
Ben Jacobs reported on Friday that Wilson has struck a deal with the Magpies to move to St. James’ Park, with the club now having to agree terms with Forest to secure the switch.
Wilson has had several dealings with Newcastle in his two and a half years at the City Ground, most notably signing Elliot Anderson in the summer of 2024.
Here’s what he said upon completing the signing.
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Ross Wilson signed Elliot Anderson from Newcastle United
Wilson pulled off the coup of signing Anderson in 2024, taking advantage of Newcastle’s troubling PSR position.
Upon completing the deal, Wilson said: “We are all delighted to welcome Elliot to Nottingham Forest and pleased that he has chosen to continue to develop his talent with us in the Premier League.
“We are sure he will thrive in a Forest shirt, as other players in his age profile have done.
“As soon as the opportunity arose for him to potentially join, it was something we were all excited to make happen.”
Newcastle were forced into selling local hero Anderson as they came perilously close to breaching PSR restrictions.
The Magpies urgently needed a high-profit sale, and as the midfielder was homegrown, his £35m transfer fee could go on the books as pure profit immediately.
Wilson, who has made 43 signings at Forest, didn’t let Newcastle get off easy, though, and ensured they bought Odysseas Vlachodimos for £20m as a condition of the deal.
As a purchase can be spread over the books for the length of the player’s contract, the signing didn’t harm Newcastle’s PSR, but it did leave them stuck with another goalkeeper they didn’t want.
Newcastle will be hoping Wilson brings such cunning negotiation tactics with him to Newcastle.
Could Ross Wilson bring Elliot Anderson back to Newcastle?
Anderson has only gone from strength to strength since joining Forest, with the football watching world realising the talent everyone at Newcastle already knew about.
The elegant midfielder is now a regular in the England starting XI and could well stay in Thomas Tuchel’s side at the World Cup.
Anderson was a driving force behind Forest’s amazing season last term and interest is bound to be high in him in 2026.
Newcastle fans still love Anderson and don’t blame him for his forced exit. He was cheered and applauded when he returned to St. James’ Park last weekend.
Howe deeply regrets having to sell Anderson and Newcastle would ‘love’ to sign him back.
Recruiting Wilson might help that cause but, with the way Anderson’s career is going, he will be attracting interest from much more appealing teams in the near future, even if Newcastle is his boyhood club.
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