Man City's £116m Anderson deal forces Arsenal to rethink Rogers valuation

Manchester City have agreed a £116m fee with Nottingham Forest for Elliot Anderson, with sporting director Hugo Viana securing his primary midfield target before the summer window has properly opened — and before Anderson has even finished at the World Cup.

The fee falls just short of the British record but sits level with what Liverpool paid for Florian Wirtz and only £11m above Arsenal’s outlay for Declan Rice in 2022. That context has done little to calm nerves elsewhere. Reports from several UK outlets indicate that Aston Villa are now pointing to the Anderson deal as justification for demanding £130m from Arsenal for Morgan Rogers, a player Villa believe to be the superior talent.

Arsenal could counter that Anderson is currently in the England squad while Rogers is not, and that various performance metrics from last season support their own valuation. But the Anderson benchmark is now set, and clubs reluctant to sell their best assets are already using it as a deterrent. For Mikel Arteta and his recruitment team, it is an unwelcome complication in a window where they need to strengthen in midfield.

Arsenal are not alone. Manchester United and Tottenham are also active in the midfield market this summer, while Chelsea may need to move if Enzo Fernandez pursues an exit he has been publicly open to. Anderson’s deal is unlikely to distort every piece of business this window, but it has raised the floor for any midfielder of genuine quality.

For City, the timing is a significant advantage. Wrapping up a deal of this magnitude early — and without disrupting England’s World Cup preparations — eases pressure on Viana’s recruitment operation just as it piles it onto rivals. City finished second in the Premier League last season, unable to prevent Arsenal from claiming the title for the first time in 22 years. Anderson, working under new head coach Enzo Maresca, is central to their plan to reclaim top spot.