Newcastle United fans still aren't quite over losing Elliot Anderson this summer as the dynamic midfielder was sold to Nottingham Forest in a quasi-swap deal to fend off punishments for breaching PSR.
It was a deal that Nottingham Forest certainly got the better of landing the 'Geordie Maradona' for £35 million while Newcastle were lumbered with Greek goalkeeper Odysseas Vlachodimos for £20 million. A 'keeper who must be terrible as even human training dummy John Ruddy is above him in the pecking order.
There was always a big question hanging over Anderson and that was, which nation would he represent at senior level?
Anderson had represented both England and Scotland at youth level, choosing to go with Scotland from U16 to U21 level.
Rumours started to persist that Gareth Southgate and The FA were keeping an eye on Anderson and were looking to potentially give him a senior call-up.
However, Scotland made their move first calling up Anderson to the senior squad, but just a couple of days into the training camp, Anderson withdrew which left him available once again for England.
Anderson had said that the Scotland camp didn't feel right and has now been called up for England U21s, making his bow on Friday in the goalless draw with Northern Ireland, and it now seems as though this will be his final switch.
Anderson was asked about his international future by the media (via The Scotsman) and has said that it was a hard decision but it's one he's going to stick by.
"Is it a final decision? Yeah. I see myself playing for England. It was tough as I'm Scottish and English. It's something that I've been trying to decide for a while, and I hope I've made the right decision.
"It is down to how you feel, that's just the most important thing. How you feel when you put the strip on that is what swayed my decision here."
We always saw Anderson pulling on the Three Lions for England, but we hoped it would be as a Newcastle player. Thanks, PSR, son's crying now!
PL | GD | PTS | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
1 |
Liverpool
|
13 | 18 | 34 |
2 |
Arsenal
|
13 | 12 | 25 |
3 |
Chelsea
|
13 | 12 | 25 |
4 |
Brighton
|
13 | 5 | 23 |
5 |
Manchester City
|
13 | 3 | 23 |
6 |
Nottingham Forest
|
13 | 3 | 22 |
7 |
Tottenham Hotspur
|
13 | 14 | 20 |
8 |
Brentford
|
13 | 3 | 20 |
9 |
Manchester United
|
13 | 4 | 19 |
10 |
Fulham
|
13 | 0 | 19 |
11 |
Newcastle United
|
13 | 0 | 19 |
12 |
Aston Villa
|
13 | -3 | 19 |
13 |
Bournemouth
|
13 | 1 | 18 |
14 |
West Ham United
|
13 | -7 | 15 |
15 |
Everton
|
13 | -11 | 11 |
16 |
Leicester
|
13 | -11 | 10 |
17 |
Crystal Palace
|
13 | -7 | 9 |
18 |
Wolves
|
13 | -10 | 9 |
19 |
Ipswich
|
13 | -11 | 9 |
20 |
Southampton
|
13 | -15 | 5 |