When Arsenal and Manchester City lock horns again next season, they will come up against one of the most expensive players in Premier League history; Elliot Anderson.
While the midfielder’s move to the Etihad is not officially confirmed yet, it only feels like a matter of time before it does get wrapped up. A £116m move has been agreed and he is due to undergo a medical in the USA before penning terms.
How will the Gunners respond to this move? Well, with great difficulty. After seeing that fee, Aston Villa are looking for as much as £130m to sell Morgan Rogers. Newcastle’s Sandro Tonali is also being valued at £100m amid interest from the Arsenal and rivals Tottenham Hotspur.
The fact of the matter is that it’s a move that will do huge damage to the state of the market.
Arsenal could sign their own Anderson for £80m
At one stage, Arsenal did have an interest in Anderson but he was always going to head to Manchester City. The Gunners were quite content to let that happen without officially entering the race themselves.
That said, Mikel Arteta does need a new midfielder and they have a number of options on the shortlist. The main talking point at the moment is Bruno Guimaraes.
The Newcastle man is a player of interest to the north Londoners and have opened up a conversation via intermediaries about prising the Brazilian away from St James’ Park.
The message so far, however, has been that he is not for sale.
Arsenal are also getting the same message from Bournemouth when it comes to Alex Scott. That’s according to BBC Sport who report this week that the Cherries are currently not open to selling the midfielder.
That’s despite the Gunners opening initial talks to understand whether a move may well be possible. Sadly for them it doesn’t look like it will be, certainly for now anyway.
Scott has two years left on his contract at the Vitality Stadium and Bournemouth are trying to get him to extend. If a move did happen this summer, it has previously been revealed that an £80m offer may be considered.
How Alex Scott compared to Elliot Anderson
Anderson was the signing that every top Premier League side wanted to complete this summer. While Arsenal and Manchester United never truly formalised efforts to extract him from Nottingham Forest, they were keen admirers.
It’s not a surprise to see why. Last season, the England international was one of the best players in the Premier League. No midfielder ran more kilometers than Anderson. Only one midfielder, Manuel Ugarte, registered more defensive contributions in the English top-flight across 2025/26.
Yet, Scott is actually cut from a rather similar cloth. Anderson is the better player, sure, hence the price tag, but in the words of Andoni Iraola, the 22-year-old is also “one of the best midfielders in the Premier League.”
Why? Well, he actually stacks up really well in comparison to City’s new club-record signing.
More of an 8 than a 6, Scott actually scored the same number of goals (four) as England’s midfield warrior. He also scored a cracker at the Emirates vs Arsenal. In other metrics, they also ranked pretty closely.
|
Alex Scott vs Arsenal (April 2026) |
|
|---|---|
|
Minutes played |
90 |
|
Touches |
63 |
|
Goals |
1 |
|
Shots |
2 |
|
Chances created |
1 |
|
Defensive contributions |
13 |
|
Ball recovieres |
8 |
Like Anderson, the Cherries star is willing to run himself into the ground for the good of the team. The former Bristol City man registered 12.18 defensive contributions per 90 minutes last season to Anderson’s 13.93.
Both of them are phenomenal at reading play and gaining back possession. While Anderson was one of the best in the division for ball recoveries, making 8.26, Scott did not lag too far behind on 6.14 per 90.
The pairing are not just comfortable out of possession and doing the dirty work but they are brilliant with the ball at their feet. They ooze class and composure. Both players average around an 85% pass success rate. Furthermore, Scott sat among the best 13% of Premier League midfielders for dribbles, while Anderson ended 2025/26 in the best 4%.
On that statistical evidence, Arsenal would be getting an Elliot Anderson-lite if you will, a player who could well be on track to become just as good in the coming years. After all, he is already right on the cusp of an England debut, making Thomas Tuchel’s pre-World Cup squad.
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