Elliot Anderson confirms Man Utd legend told him to snub Man City transfer
metro.co.uk · 2 hours ago
Elliot Anderson lifted the lid on his conversation with Manchester United icon Ryan Giggs Elliot Anderson has confirmed that Ryan Giggs tried to make him change his mind on joining Manchester City during a chance meeting on a golfing trip earlier this summer. Giggs’ beloved Manchester United were one of a host of elite clubs to target Anderson in their hunt for midfield reinforcements. But while the Red Devils’ pursuit of Anderson stretched back over a year, the Old Trafford giants would prioritise overhauling their misfiring attack instead last summer, capturing Benjamin Sesko, Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo in a £200million spending spree. It allowed City to muscle themselves into pole position for Anderson before this year’s transfer window opened for business, with the then Nottingham Forest star making it clear he favoured a move to the blue half of Manchester. Get the latest transfer news every morning Sign up to our daily football newsletter for personalised updates on who your team is trying to sign and who won't be around next season. Talks progressed at a pace over the following weeks and City officially confirmed that they had completed a club-record £116m deal for the 23-year-old England international last month. Anderson has put pen to paper on a five-year contract at the Etihad, tying him to the eight-time Premier League champions until June 2031. He is yet to feature in any of City’s pre-season games on the back of a gruelling World Cup with the Three Lions, but could be in line to make his debut in the side’s Community Shield showdown with Arsenal on Sunday. The England midfielder has signed a five-year deal at the Etihad (Picture: Getty) Maresca could hand Anderson his debut in the Community Shield (Picture: Getty) ‘I’m over the moon. It’s my first day of training today and the lads have welcomed my really well,’ Anderson told reporters during a meet-and-greet at City’s club shop on Wednesday. ‘Training went well and I’m just getting to grips with everything. It’s good. ‘I had a bit of work with him [Enzo Maresca] today and you can see the detail that he goes in to and I’m really looking forward to that.’ On the possibility of making his debut in Cardiff this weekend, Anderson added: ‘To have the chance to win a trophy in your first week is quite good so hopefully I can get some minutes there and show what I can do.’ City broke their transfer record to sign Anderson from Nottingham Forest (Picture: Manchester City) Given the size of the fee City spent to sign him, Anderson is desperate to get started and showcase ‘what he does best’ on the pitch. ‘I want to show everyone what I can do and try not to focus on that [price tag] too much,’ he explained. ‘But I’m sure over the next season I can show people what I do best.’ Giggs told Anderson to snub City for United (Picture: Getty) Earlier this week, former Manchester United defender Phil Bardsley revealed that he and club legend Giggs had tried to persuade Anderson into moving to Old Trafford while on holiday in Portugal. Asked about the chance meeting, Anderson let out a laugh and replied: ‘Yeah, I was just golfing over in Portugal and bumped into a few of them. ‘We had a nice chat and stuff like that but I had a decision to make and I chose City.’ {"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Maresca says it's a 'privilege' to follow Pep in first press conference as City manager","contentUrl":"https:\/\/videos.metro.co.uk\/video\/met\/2026\/07\/24\/8715965047297391107\/480x270_MP4_8715965047297391107.mp4","description":"he former Chelsea boss has replaced Pep Guardiola at the helm after serving as his assistant coach during the Treble-winning 2022\/23 campaign.","duration":"T10M41S","height":270,"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/i.dailymail.com\/1s\/2026\/07\/24\/15\/110232073-0-image-m-71_1784901871683.jpg","uploadDate":"2026-07-24T15:04:07+0100","width":480} To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that s
