Anthony Elanga has made a strong start to his time at Nottingham Forest following the completion of his permanent transfer from Manchester United.
The Swedish winger decided his time was up at Old Trafford and agreed to move to the East Midlands outfit and play under former England Under 17 coach, Steve Cooper.
Elanga has assisted a goal against Arsenal and also scored the winner against Mauricio Pochettino’s Chelsea at Stamford Bridge to continue his superb start to life at Forest.
Elanga saw his game time limited at United last season following the emergence of Alejandro Garnacho and the resurgent form of Marcus Rashford, who scored 30 goals for the Red Devils last season.
Elanga’s emotional return
Elanga was on the bench for United’s 3-2 win over Forest and received a nice reception from the Old Trafford faithful and was a popular member of the Red Devils’ squad following his emergence from the academy.
He managed four goals and four assists from 55 games for their senior team, but his game time was restricted to just over 700 minutes from 26 games last season.
“Yes, quite (emotional),” Elanga said to Fotbolskanalen when asked to sum up his feelings about the Old Trafford return. “I grew up there. I was there in the academy. But I have to listen to myself now.
“It was the right step for me and now I want to develop as a player and a person. Now I’m just happy and want to develop as a player and I have a good coach who can help me a lot. Now I just want to show what I can do and score more goals and assists.”
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Were United right to sell Elanga
The decision to sell the Swedish winger was one that the majority of the United fanbase agreed with but, since his fantastic start in a Forest shirt, questions have been asked whether it was the right decision.
With Garnacho and Rashford on the left-hand side, it is hard to envisage where the forward could have fit in at the club if the pair are fit and firing.
If Elanga was a more capable right-winger then he could be a shoo-in for that starting spot, but when the winger was deployed there for United, he struggled.
Ultimately, United and Erik ten Hag made the right decision.