Newcastle United diehards give reluctant approval to £35m transfer exit

Newcastle United supporters have given their thoughts on this afternoon's expected £35m sale of midfielder Elliot Anderson as the 21-year-old is set to join Premier League rivals Nottingham Forest.

It's understood that the Magpies are very reluctant to let the academy graduate go but personal terms have been agreed in what is said to be purely a sale in order to help the club avoid any potential Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSRs) penalties to begin the 2024/25 campaign.

Newcastle's issues surrounding the Premier League's financial regulations have also meant the £30m sale of teenager Yankuba Minteh has had to be made to try and balance the books and make sure no points deductions are given to the club.

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The pair of departures aren't expected to be the club's last today either, with rumours swirling around some of the club's biggest names including Alexander Isak and Bruno Guimaraes. Perhaps the one positive around the Anderson sale is that it's a 'pure profit' sale, meaning that it'll ease their PSR concerns much more than the Minteh deal.

In the past, the youngster has suffered from a number of injuries but manager Eddie Howe has consistently highlighted what they've been missing while Anderson has been on the sidelines. Speaking in March earlier this year after Anderson scored a penalty in their 4-3 shootout win over Blackburn Rovers, he claimed: "He’s been a huge miss for us because of his versatility.

"You could see that to have his ability to play wide, play central, be creative and a goalscorer, we’ve missed that. When you miss him and Joelinton at the same time, a lot of the versatility of the squad goes and your ability to chop and change things. It’s great to have him back.

"We were very keen to get him on the pitch with penalties in mind. We see him every day practising his penalties, and he executes them very well. But still, he had to come in relatively cold because he was only on for five minutes, and he had to have the composure to execute it, for such a young player. He did just that."

When polled about the sale, just six percent of fans claimed they wanted the club to keep the 21-year-old while 23 percent of supporters were happy with the sale and saying it was a great deal. What that means though is that a massive 71 percent of fans were undecided about it, saying that whilst they'd rather he stayed, the club shouldn't turn down the £35m that will go towards balancing their books.