£15m ace is ‘getting better every day’ after Manchester United exit

Add as preferred source on Google

Anthony Elanga is ‘getting better every day’ since leaving Premier League giants Manchester United over the summer, according to Nottingham Forest team-mate Orel Mangala.

It is moments like this when you have to wonder if the universe is conspiring against Manchester United. If Erik ten Hag walked under thirteen ladders while smashing seven mirrors on the way to Carrington. If we are all involved in some sort of cruel, Truman Show-style social experiment.

Anthony Elanga, the £15 million winger deemed not good enough to make the grade at Old Trafford, has more goal contributions in the Premier League this season than Marcus Rashford, Antony, Alejandro Garnacho, Anthony Martial, Facundo Pellistri and (for obvious reasons) Jadon Sancho between them.

Like so many before him, Elanga appears to be benefitting from escaping the glare of the Old Trafford microscope, thriving under Steve Cooper at Nottingham Forest.

Anthony Elanga thriving after Manchester United

Mangala, speaking to the Forest website, believes Elanga’s excellent start to life at the City Ground owes much to Cooper’s tactical system, swapping from the right-hand flank to the left and cutting inside to excellent effect.

“I think the way we play suits him,” Mangala argues. “It’s our job to trust him and encourage him to do even more.

“He’s getting better every day. He uses his pace really well and he can mix it up, he’s very important for us.”

Outscoring Marcus Rashford

That devastating assist on his Forest debut against Arsenal back in August was a sign of things to come. He scored a winner at Stamford Bridge a few weeks later, and took his Premier League tally for the season to three with another well-taken strike versus Brighton and Hove Albion last time out.

Erik ten Hag, the coach who sold Elanga over the summer, could only dream of possessing a wide forward in such form, although there has been some green shoots visible in the recent performances of Rashford, Martial, Antony and, of course, 2024 Goal of the Season winner (presumably) Alejandro Garnacho.