- Michael Carrick offers take on Elliot Anderson
- Reds interested in replacing Casemiro with 23-year-old
- Forest star expected to leave this summer
Manchester United interim boss Michael Carrick offered his fair assessment on Nottingham Forest midfielder Elliot Anderson ahead of the game on Sunday (17 May).
Anderson has been shortlisted by INEOS as the priority target for United this summer. The club views the superstar as the replacement for Casemiro, who will be playing in his final home game this afternoon at Old Trafford.
The Reds face a fight for his signature, as Manchester City have equally shown a big interest in the Forest midfielder this summer. United have made it clear that they will not pay over the odds for Anderson, but have shown serious interest which indicated that a bid will be submitted in the coming weeks.
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Carrick: Anderson Offers So Much
Speaking in the press-conference ahead of Sunday (17 May)’s clash, Carrick was asked about the former Newcastle midfielder. He said: “Yeah, he’s done well. I think he’s a big part of their team. I think he offers so much, and they’ve got a really talented team and dangerous team.”
Anderson has featured in every Premier League game for Forest this season, starting all but one. At the same time, he was instrumental in Forest’s run to the Europa League semi-final, where they eventually lost against Aston Villa.
He arrived from Newcastle United in 2024 and has become a household name in the league destined for greater things beyond a relegation scrap. Even though Forest had already confirmed their Premier League status last week, it was already expected that Anderson would depart in either scenario.
Carrick continued in his assessment: “So they’ve had a good season to get to the [Europa League] semi-finals and just fall short. But yeah, you can see obviously he is [an] important part of their team.”
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Anderson’s Old Trafford Audition
Like Carrick, Anderson also started his football journey at Walllsend Boys Club in Tyneside. The 23-year-old is the latest phenomenon to have come from there, following the same pathway as former United legend Steve Bruce and former goalkeeping coach Eric Steele as well.
The game is expected to be a ‘dead rubber’ as Chris Sutton described, but it will not take away from the big moments anticipated. Casemiro’s obvious departure looms, so an emotional farewell is expected. It will be the last run-out for many fringe players who may expect themselves to depart Old Trafford in the summer.
The more subtle thing happening is an ‘audition’ for Anderson, who United officials and Carrick himself will be keeping an eye on to see how he performs at the Theatre of Dreams.
