Newcastle have no sell-on clause for Elliot Anderson – here’s why they fumbled this transfer so badly

Newcastle United do not have a sell-on clause for Elliot Anderson as he closes in on a transfer to Manchester City worth a whopping £130m.

The England international has come a long way since his time as a youngster at Newcastle, where he made only 44 Premier League appearances, with the majority of those coming from the bench.

Newcastle probably weren’t too worried about letting Anderson go when Nottingham Forest came in for him, with their focus at the time being to sell a homegrown player because of PSR concerns, according to BBC Sport.

DOWNLOAD THE OFFICIAL CAUGHTOFFSIDE APP FOR ALL THE LATEST & BREAKING UPDATES – STRAIGHT TO YOUR PHONE! ON APPLE & GOOGLE PLAY

This means the Magpies were in a weak negotiating position on Anderson, and simply sold him for £35m (fee via Sky Sports), with no sell-on clause or buy-back clause included.

Now Anderson is on his way to Man City for a British record transfer fee of £130m, as per BBC Sport‘s report on Thursday evening.

However, Fabrizio Romano has now changed his reporting, stating that it’s £116m, though this might be before eventual add-ons later take the fee up…

Elliot will undergo his medical in the US this weekend. Deal set to be signed. ? pic.twitter.com/emUW4log25

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) June 25, 2026

?? More on Elliot Anderson deal final fee: Manchester City side believe price will be £116m with NO add-ons included.

Elliot will undergo his medical in the US this weekend. Deal set to be signed. ? pic.twitter.com/emUW4log25

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) June 25, 2026

Either way, it’s a huge amount of money, so just think what even a 20 or 25 per cent sell-on clause would have done for Newcastle.

Want more CaughtOffside coverage? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list for news you can trust

Newcastle needed Anderson sale to avoid points deduction

Despite having such a top talent in their academy, Newcastle’s spending on other signings meant they were facing the very real threat of a points deduction.

As noted in the BBC’s report, this put them under pressure to sell Anderson with more favourable terms to Forest, who have now made a massive profit on the deal.

The 23-year-old has blossomed into a world class player at the City Ground and it will be intriguing to see what he can now achieve at the Etihad Stadium.

Newcastle fans will be gutted by this, though, and it raises serious questions about some of the club’s work in the transfer market if they found themselves needing to sell such a top talent on the cheap because of over-spending elsewhere.