Nottingham Forest have enjoyed an impressive start to the season, sitting in 9th place on six points from the first four games and being only merely beaten in visits to Arsenal and Manchester United.
Another busy summer saw the Reds make 13 new signings, including seven on deadline day, where they announced the signing of Ivorian midfielder, Ibrahim Sangare for £30 million – a new club record.
Perhaps a more underrated piece of business, however, was the signing of Anthony Elanga, who joined from Manchester United for a fee of around £15m.
What did Rio Ferdinand say about Antony Elanga?
Speaking on his YouTube channel FIVE, Ferdinand was full of praise for the former United dynamo.
He said:
“[Chelsea] got smoked by Elanga, one of the players [United] let go.
“Elanga has looked red-hot by the way, did you see what he did to Mudryk?
“He’s done well man, every game he’s had an impact since he’s been at Forest. He came on against [Arsenal] and set up the goal, then he scored against Chelsea and got the winner.
“This kid looks electric.”
Seemingly disagreeing with United’s decision to let the winger leave the club, Ferdinand has no doubt about Elanga’s “application and desire” to succeed in his new endeavours.
How did Elanga sign for Forest?
The Swedish whiz made his first-team debut for Manchester United in May 2021 and would score his first senior goal less than two weeks later against Wolves in the Premier League.
Elanga became a regular for United under Ralf Rangnick for the second half of the 2021/22 season, making 27 appearances and scoring three goals, including an unforgettable equaliser against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League knockout stages.
When Erik Ten Hag took over ahead of the 2022/23 season, Elanga lost his position in the starting eleven and made only five league starts over the season.
With his place in the national team at risk, the 21-year-old decided he needed to leave for a club that could offer him more game time, with the Daily Mail reporting in May that over 12 clubs around Europe were interested.
Eventually, Nottingham Forest announced the signing of Elanga in July, becoming their second signing of the summer.
How has Elanga performed for Forest so far?
Without having started in the league yet, the 21-year-old dynamo’s impact has been instant.
He got his first assist after only two minutes of coming off the bench against Arsenal on the opening day.
This past weekend when Forest faced Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, Elanga was introduced ahead of the second half with the scores level.
Within three minutes, he found space in behind the defence and placed the ball past Robert Sanchez, which would be the winning goal in a huge 1-0 win.
Just as Ferdinand said, he gave Mudryk – who cost a whopping £89m – a torrid afternoon in west London, as seen by the following clip that shows the Ukraine star getting beaten all ends up by an exceptional piece of skill.
Meanwhile, as per Sofascore, the Sweden international registered the second-highest rating in the match (7.7), having contributed three shots on target, three successful dribbles and a total of four duels won in just 45 minutes on the pitch.
Tricky Trees boss Steve Cooper will be looking for more of the same after the international break when his Forest outfit return to action with a clash to basement boys Burnley at the City Ground on September 18th.