“We never wanted to sell him but we had no choice, the club has been forced into a decision, it didn’t sit comfortably with me”- Eddie Howe gives honest verdict on selling Newcastle’s Elliot Anderson to Nottingham Forest this summer as he says club’s hands were forced

Eddie Howe has recently shared his very honest thoughts about the midfielder’s departure from Tyneside.

Forest shelled out around £35m to bring in Anderson this summer and that is a fair chunk of change for a player who was not exactly a regular at Newcastle.

Odysseas Vlachodimos went the other way as he departed Forest for the Toon for an undisclosed fee. However, Newcastle had their arm forced into selling Anderson as they – like Forest – found themselves battling the PSR deadline last month.

Also like Forest, Newcastle were able to balance the books, but they done so having lost one of their most promising youngsters. Speaking to the club’s media during Newcastle’s pre-season trip to Germany, Howe expressed his disappointment in loding Anderson.

“Elliot was very sad for us because he is a player that we loved, both on and off the pitch. Everyone here at Newcastle has worked so hard to develop him and his talents,” Howe told the Newcastle YouTube channel.

“And through PSR really we have had to, the club has been forced into a decision through no fault of his own and I just, yeah, didn’t sit comfortably with me, but it was almost something we had to do.

“We didn’t want to sell him but we had no choice. We wish Elliott well. I am sure he will go on to have an unbelievable career.”

Elliot Anderson has made a bright start at Nottingham Forest

Anderson was handed 45 minutes last weekend against Chesterfield where he made his debut for the Reds. And he was also given the second half of the game in Spain on Friday night against his boyhood rivals, Sunderland.

It was apparent the 21-year-old impressed in his second appearance in a Forest shirt with journalist Sarah Clapson waxing lyrical about the summer signing.

“Positive from the off. Created an early opportunity for himself with a good run into the box. Latched on to Sangare’s pass and worked the goalkeeper,” she wrote for the Nottingham Post.

Clearly Howe was devastated to lose the Newcastle academy product and he is already starting to show why.