“I Expect Them To Be Serious Contenders” – Romano Backs Man Utd To Battle For £100M+ Transfer

BACK David Tully Jan 11th 2026 Man Utd will be “serious contenders” in the race to sign Nottingham Forest midfielder Elliot Anderson, according to journalist Fabrizio Romano. When assessing who could be favourites to secure the England international’s signature this summer, Romano said: “It’s still early to mention a frontrunner. For sure, I can tell you that he’s very high on the list of Manchester United, together with Carlos Baleba. There are two, three players that Man United are tracking. I think they will be busy with midfielders in 2026 and Anderson is one of them, for sure.” “So I’m sure United will be in the conversation. Then there are going to be plenty of clubs keen on him. Also, the ones you mentioned, Man City, are also going to look for midfielders. Let’s see what happens at Chelsea. So I think it’s going to be a big battle. But at the moment, what I can say is that Man United, for sure, have mentioned his name several times internally, and so I expect them to be serious contenders at the table.” Anderson has a high price tag Forest paid Newcastle £35m for the 23-year-old at the start of last season and the Tricky Trees are reportedly reluctant to offload him for less than £100m now. Considering Carlos Baleba is expected to cost just as much, along with another target, Crystal Palace’s Adam Wharton, it seems the Red Devils will have to stump up the cash if they want to strengthen their midfield. Will Man Utd bring in signings this month? There was plenty of talk about a move being made for a low-cost midfielder who could add depth in the middle of the park, but things have gone quiet on that front in recent days. The sacking of Ruben Amorim has probably played an important role in the club’s recruitment team reassessing their plans for the January transfer window. While signings can’t be completely ruled out, they seem less likely than they did at the start of this week. Want more news on Man Utd? Add Man U News as a preferred source on Google David Tully David has worked as a football reporter for the last fifteen years. Having started as an intern at Snack Media, he then went on to become a freelancer, working on various different sites. At the start of 2023, he took up his current role as content writer for the Football News Network.