Anthony Elanga Manchester United
Anthony Elanga is confident Nottingham Forest have assembled a squad capable of pushing up the Premier League table as a busy summer transfer window draws to a close. The Reds have added nine signings so far, albeit latest recruit David Carmo followed in the footsteps of Marko Stamenic by immediately joining Olympiacos on loan. And they are not finished in the market just yet as they look to get a deal for Feyenoord’s Santiago Gimenez over the line to bring an end to their striker search. The work done means Forest have strength in depth across the pitch. Wingers Ramon Sosa and Jota Silva have been brought in to provide competition for Elanga and Callum Hudson-Odoi, and the ex-Manchester United man welcomes the battle for places.
Anthony Elanga said “It’s good to have competition in the team. It’s healthy. All I can do is focus on what I do on the pitch. Whenever I play, I just try to do my thing. I try to be as impactful as I can and try to change the game as much as I can. “It’s important to have those types of wingers. Ramon and Jota have come in and added quality to the squad. Hopefully we can see some of them against Newcastle in the Carabao Cup. We definitely have enough in the squad to push on. It’s important we got these players in early on and we all had a pre-season together with the manager. I feel like that’s really important to build upon. “Hopefully we can keep doing what we’re doing. We’ve been training really well, pre-season went well and we got a win in our second Premier League game of the season. Now we can just crack on and focus on the next one.”
Next up is a Carabao Cup clash with Newcastle United at the City Ground on Wednesday night. It will be a first reunion with his former club for Elliot Anderson since his move from the Magpies last month. The midfielder made his full debut on Saturday as he replaced the injured Danilo in the line-up. Defender Nikola Milenkovic was also in the XI for the first time and both players played key roles as Nuno Espirito Santo’s side beat Southampton 1-0 to clinch their first Premier League win of the campaign.
Anthony Elanga said “They did fantastic. I saw their qualities as soon as they came into the team. Nikola dominated at the back. He was a voice and was aggressive. He was really important. Elliot is so good on the ball. He adds different qualities to the team. That’s what I’m talking about, we’ve got the depth now in the team. It’s a shame what happened to Danilo with his injury, but now we have the depth to come in. It’s just important to have different qualities to call upon. It will be an interesting game against Newcastle – not just with Elliot, but with Chris Wood being ex-Newcastle as well. I feel like I always play well against Newcastle, so it will be a good one to look forward to.”
