Ruben Amorim wants more end product from Manchester United’s forwards in the Premier League and the man they sold to Nottingham Forest in 2023, Anthony Elanga, is doing just that
Nottingham Forest star Anthony Elanga showed former club Manchester United exactly what they’re missing with a superb performance against Brighton.
High-flying Forest thrashed Brighton 7-0 to move up to third in the Premier League table, with Elanga laying on a hat-trick of assists. The Sweden international has now contributed to 11 goals in 24 league games this season, more than all but one of United’s current forward options, Amad.
Elanga, 22, was the breakout star of Ralf Rangnick’s ill-fated interim spell at Old Trafford but struggled to establish himself under Erik ten Hag. Forest snapped him up for a reported £15million in 2023 and after a solid first season in Nottingham, he’s had liftoff this term.
“A hat-trick of assists never goes unnoticed,” team-mate Chris Wood told TNT Sports post-match. “The boy is on flames.”
Wood, who helped down Brighton by scoring three goals, added: “We know the relationship that we have. We have that bond, the connection and he does superbly for me and it shows in the statistics.”
Forest captain Morgan Gibbs-White also hailed Elanga’s display, saying: “He is incredible. He is incredibly fast so you just know to put it in the space [in behind] and he will get there. He has been really knuckling down on his work this year, on his end product, it has been incredible. As you can see today he has got three assists, so credit to him.
“I think he deserves a little bit more credit than what he’s been getting, because he works so hard on and off the pitch.”
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As for the man himself’s assessment, Elanga said: “It is always nice to contribute. You could see I kept on running at the end because I wanted a goal. I said to Chris at half time: “Let’s keep pushing for more.” I’m happy he got the hat-trick of goals. The most important thing is to win and we did that.”
Ten Hag’s successor, Ruben Amorim, might be wondering what could’ve been had Elanga stayed, as Forest employ a system which isn’t dissimilar to his preferred 3-4-2-1 formation. But playing time was the most important thing for the 22-year-old, telling SoccerNews last year: “Was Ten Hag the reason I left United? No, I wouldn’t say that.
“I just wanted to play, that was especially important to me. I’m young and I don’t want to sit on the bench all season, you know? When you’re young you want to play, you want to make mistakes, you want to take risks. But he wasn’t the reason for my leaving. There I mainly focused on myself, not on others.”
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