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'A real shame' - Eddie Howe reveals €40m Newcastle transfer heartbreak
Tom Weber
- 3 Oct 2025 17:18 BST
- 4 min read
News
Eddie Howe has revealed that he is still hurt by the fact that Newcastle had to sell Elliot Anderson to Nottingham Forest last year.
The Magpies have endured a few difficult transfer windows since the initial spending spree when the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) came on board.
This summer, there were no financial issues as Newcastle were simply rejected by a host of targets, but previous windows were defined by severe constraints due to the Premier League's Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSR)
Current ETV
Elliot Anderson
M, DM (C)
Nottingham
Elliot Anderson
M, DM (C)
Nottingham
ETV Range
€46.4M - €56.8M
Due to the PIF spending so heavily when they took over the club, Newcastle had to do some financial manoeuvring in later windows to avoid breaching league rules.
This involved doing questionable deals in the summer of 2024, the most notable one being an informal 'swap' with Nottingham Forest. Homegrown midfielder Elliot Anderson went to the City Ground for €41.2m, while Odysseas Vlachodimos headed to St. James' Park.
Anderson deal still 'regretful'
Anderson represented pure profit on Newcastle's books and helped them avoid a PSR breach, which could have entailed a points deduction. He has since gone on to establish himself as an England midfielder, while Vlachodimas was offloaded this summer after playing just 45 minutes of football.
Speaking ahead of Newcastle's clash with Nottingham Forest, which could have consequences for Ange Postecoglou's future at the City Ground, Magpies boss Eddie Howe revealed that the sale of Anderson still stings.
“I don’t know [if he could return to Newcastle in the future], but certainly from my perspective, I would love him to. I’m very respectful of the fact he is at another football club and I would never normally talk about a player in that way, so I won’t change that stance.
“But yes, it is very regretful a player from the academy who had given so much - and the club had given so much too, the coaching staff, all those years here and how people tried to develop those talents - for him not to be utilised here is a real shame.”
“We knew that [Forest would get a bargain deal]. We knew that the minute it was going to happen, or likely to happen, that we were massively selling him at a big discount.
“But the position we were in, we weren’t in a very strong negotiating position at all, and it was that or a points deduction. I’ve said many times we had no choice but to make the sale, but it was not one we wanted to do.”
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