Manchester City are continuing with their push to sign Elliot Anderson from Nottingham Forest but Manchester United remain in the race for the player, according to Fabrizio Romano.

While Man City and Man United battle, the former Newcastle United midfielder is preparing to head to the World Cup with England and is expected to form a key part of Thomas Tuchel’s starting XI in Canada, Mexico and the United States.

Anderson played in all 38 of Forest’s Premier League games this season and was a key part of the side that reached the Europa League semi-final.

Reports earlier this week indicated City were keen to wrap up a deal as soon as this week but transfer expert Romano has now given a fresh update on the player’s potential move to Manchester.

Man City ‘favourites’ to sign Man Utd target Elliot Anderson

In an update on his YouTube channel, Romano revealed that United are still “calling and calling” as they remain in the race for Anderson.

However, their local rivals City “have always been favourites to sign the player” with the FA Cup winners laying the groundwork for the deal in the last few months.

Romano said: “Manchester City are still pushing and I told you in March they have always been favourites to sign Elliot Anderson. They remain on it. They already made some approaches because they want to offer a really important contract to the player, so Man City believe they can really tempt EIliot Anderson.”

City won the FA Cup and Carabao Cup in Pep Guardiola’s final season at the club but ended the campaign seven points behind Premier League winners Arsenal while they were dumped out of the Champions League by Real Madrid, losing 5-1 on aggregate to the Spanish giants.

They are now out to strengthen their squad with Enzo Maresca expected to take charge of the club.

Elliot Anderson could be ready-made replacement for Rodri

Recent reports in Spain have indicated Real Madrid are keen to sign Rodri, with the La Liga outfit eager to capitalise on Guardiola’s exit from the Etihad Stadium.

Anderson could be the perfect replacement for City if Rodri was to make the move to Spain. At 23-years-old, Anderson still has his best years ahead of him and already has a similar profile to Rodri.

According to statistics from Data MB, Anderson outshines Rodri when it comes to winning possession, while Rodri has a better duel success rate.

The pair are very closely matched in terms of key passes, progressive passes and ball carrying and with Anderson doing a lot of hard defensive yards for Forest, City will be encouraged by the amount of work he does going forward.

It has been widely reported that Anderson is expected to cost more than £100million with the likes of Declan Rice and Moises Caicedo moving between Premier League clubs for a similar amount in recent years.

Ronald Koeman has named his final 26-man Netherlands squad for the 2026 summer World Cup, with Virgil van Dijk headlining.

Netherlands, who are yet to win the World Cup despite finishing runner-up on three occasions, have been placed in Group F for this summer’s tournament.

They will open up their campaign on June 14 when they face Japan at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. They will face Sweden four days later in Houston before concluding their group stage with a clash against Tunisia in Kansas City.

Oranje will fancy their chances of becoming world champions for the first time this summer and, when you look at their squad, they certainly have a chance.

Goalkeepers

Koeman has chosen three goalkeepers with Premier League experience. Mark Flekken was Brentford’s starting goalkeeper for two seasons before departing for Bayer Leverkusen this summer.

He has been named in the squad alongside Robin Roefs, who enjoyed a fine debut season in England’s top tier with Sunderland, and Brighton and Hove Albion’s Bart Verbruggen. The latter has already picked up 27 caps for his country and is expected to be their starter this summer.

Defenders

Netherlands’ strength is arguably their defence. Van Dijk is regarded as one of the best centre-backs in Premier League history and will be determined to lead his country to success. It will likely be his last attempt at World Cup glory.

Man City defender Nathan Ake features in the squad, as does Arsenal’s Jurrien Timber, Tottenham’s Micky van de Ven and Brighton & Hove Albion duo Jan Paul van Hecke and Mats Wieffer.

Denzel Dumfries is a menace going forward and features, while there’s also a spot for Chelsea’s talented youngster Jorrel Hato.

There’s no place for Manchester United’s Matthijs de Ligt. The 26-year-old, who has been capped 52 times by his country, has not played since November due to a back injury. Liverpool’s Jeremie Frimpong also misses out.

Midfielders

Frenkie De Jong was pivotal in Barcelona’s La Liga triumph this season. He is expected to start in the middle of midfield for the Netherlands this summer, alongside Man City’s Tijjani Reijnders and Liverpool’s Ryan Gravenberch.

Two midfielders from Serie A feature in Oranje’s squad: Juventus’ Teun Koopmeiners and Atalanta’s Marten De Roon. There’s also a place for Quinten Timber, twin brother of Jurrien, and PSV star Guus Til.

Xavi Simons misses out after rupturing his ACL against Wolves in late April.

Forwards

While Netherlands are stacked in defence and midfield, they don’t quite have the same strength of depth going forward. Still, they have enough attacking quality to fire them to glory this summer.

Netherlands’ all-time top goal scorer, Memphis Depay, has been given a place in the squad. The 32-year-old, who now plays in Brazil with Corinthians, has hit the back of the net 55 times for his country.

Gakpo will no doubt start for his side this summer, if fully fit. He has an impressive strike record of 19 goals in 48 international games.

There’s also a place in the squad for Sunderland’s Brian Brobbey, West Ham’s Crysencio Summerville, Bournemouth’s Justin Kluivert, Ajax’s Wout Weghorst, Roma’s Donyell Malen and Galatasaray’s Noa Lang.

Manchester United are closing in on their first signing of the summer transfer window, GIVEMESPORT understands.

United have been chasing two central midfielders before the summer window has even opened officially, and they may get one over the line before the 2026 World Cup kicks off in two weeks’ time.

With Casemiro departing the club following the end of his contract and United open to offers for Manuel Ugarte, two new signings are required in the middle of the park as newly appointed permanent manager Michael Carrick gets to work on improving his squad for European football next season.

Ederson set to be Carrick’s first summer signing

Nottingham Forest star Elliot Anderson has always been the number one priority signing and still make complete a move to Old Trafford, but even if they were to sign him, Carrick would be looking for another midfielder to bring in too.

And it looks like one they have settled on is Atalanta’s Ederson, after a breakthrough in talks this week.

There has been plenty of speculation about his future in recent weeks, with the 26-year-old left out of the Italian club’s final starting lineup of the season against Fiorentina.

Manager Raffaele Palladino said: “It was a choice agreed with the player because there is something happening in the transfer market. The fact that a player like him is being followed by such an important club should be a source of pride.”

Talks have been taking place between the two clubs for some time now and a fee is “close” to being agreed, according to GMS senior football correspondent Ben Jacobs.

He said: “Manchester United are close to agreeing a deal for Ederson. The player has already agreed a five-year deal and if all goes to plan that could be finalised before the World Cup.

Ederson will be free to join up with his new Manchester United teammates quickly

“It’s not done yet, but the fee that they’ve agreed on, including bonuses, is under €45million, so Manchester United have got it a little bit cheaper than Atalanta were hoping for and that’s because he’s only got one year left on his contract.”

The fee of less than €45million means United will be paying just under £39million in total to sign the ‘world-class’ 26-year-old Brazilian. Ederson was not named in Carlo Ancelotti’s squad for the 2026 World Cup, but United would be keen to tie up a deal before the chaos of the tournament unfolds and secure their first signing under Michael Carrick.