WHY PAUL MERSON BELIEVES MANCHESTER UNITED MUST SNUB ELLIOT ANDERSON FOR ADAM WHARTON
Paul Merson tells Manchester United to snub Elliot Anderson for Adam Wharton. Discover the latest on United's £100m midfield hunt.
Paul Merson thinks Manchester United should forget about signing Elliot Anderson and instead focus their energy on Adam Wharton as their top transfer target this summer.
Last year, United threw a ton of money—about £200 million—at fixing their attack, bringing in Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo, and Benjamin Sesko. They’d also planned to bring in a deep-lying midfielder for Ruben Amorim’s much-criticised 3-4-3 setup, with Anderson, Wharton, and Carlos Baleba all on their radar.
But after a failed move for Brighton’s Baleba, Amorim kicked off the 2024/25 season with the same midfielders he ended with last year. Since then, Michael Carrick has stepped in and done a solid job. He’s got Kobbie Mainoo firing again alongside Casemiro and Bruno Fernandes, and the midfield looks sharper. Still, the people running things at Old Trafford see midfield as a weak spot—especially with Casemiro on his way out and nobody new arriving in January.
United have had their eyes on Anderson for a while. The 23-year-old has become a regular under Thomas Tuchel for England ahead of the World Cup. But when asked about Anderson on Sky Sports News, Merson didn’t seem impressed. He actually thinks Wharton, who’s also with England, makes more sense for United.
“I like Elliot Anderson, but he doesn’t wow me,” Merson said. “Forest are fourth from bottom, so they’re not exactly bossing games in midfield, are they? And if you’re a midfielder, that’s where you make your mark. I just don’t see him running things at Forest, and this is Manchester United we’re talking about.”
Merson finished with, “I’d go for Adam Wharton over him.”
When January rolled around, reports suggested Forest would only listen to offers for Anderson if someone threw £100 million or more at them. Wharton, on the other hand, is valued between £80 million and £100 million by Crystal Palace.
Wharton isn’t shy about his ambitions. Back in October, he told Sky Sports he wants to play as many Premier League games as possible and reach the top level. “There’s a World Cup in the summer—everyone wants to play at the World Cup,” he said. “And if you can play Champions League, you want to play Champions League. You’d be stupid if you didn’t.”
When asked about his weaknesses, Wharton was honest: “I can improve at everything—on the ball, off the ball, communicating on and off the pitch. The list is endless.”
Wharton, who’s also caught Liverpool’s eye, is under contract with Palace until June 2029.
AWONIYI DOUBLE LEAVES NOTTINGHAM FOREST ON THE VERGE OF PREMIER LEAGUE SAFETY
Nottingham Forest moved closer to safety with a 3-1 win over Chelsea, while West Ham fell into the relegation zone after Spurs won.
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Nottingham Forest came out of the weekend looking pretty safe after pulling off an impressive 3-1 win at Chelsea. They’re almost clear of the relegation mess. Tottenham’s big away win at Aston Villa shook things up too, and now West Ham are back in the bottom three, running out of time faster than ever.
Forest have stepped up just when they needed to, leaving West Ham and Tottenham behind with a string of solid performances. Honestly, no one saw this coming, especially since Vitor Pereira shuffled his lineup with eight changes, fresh off a Europa League win against Aston Villa.
Even so, Forest were ahead within 90 seconds, thanks to Taiwo Awoniyi’s quick strike. By the 15th minute, Igor Jesus calmly buried a penalty after Malo Gusto’s reckless foul in the box. Chelsea had a chance to get back in it, but Cole Palmer wasted a penalty right before the break after a scary head collision involving Jesse Derry.
Awoniyi doubled down and scored again early in the second half, pushing Forest six points ahead of West Ham with just three games left.
West Ham’s weekend started badly; they looked flat and lost to Brentford. Things got worse Sunday night when Tottenham pulled off their first back-to-back Premier League wins since August 2025, beating a heavily rotated Aston Villa side 2-1.
Forest is now out of West Ham’s reach, or almost. Tottenham’s still close enough for Nuno Espirito Santo’s team to worry, but with three tough games coming up, Spurs could stay up even without another win, unless West Ham digs deep and pulls off something unexpected before their home finale against Leeds.
Right now, Forest can practically taste safety. Spurs finally see a way out after weeks of struggle. As for West Ham, they’re left hoping for a miracle, a last-minute twist to dodge the drop.
CESC FABREGAS CONFIRMS INTEREST IN PREMIER LEAGUE RETURN AMID CHELSEA'S MANAGER SEARCH
As Chelsea searches for a new manager, Cesc Fabregas breaks his silence on his future at Como and his Premier League ambitions.
Cesc Fabregas recalls exactly how a conversation with Jose Mourinho prompted him to join Chelsea, despite having the opportunity to return to Arsenal.
After winning six trophies in just three seasons, the Spanish World Cup winner left Barcelona for the second time in 2014. That summer, Fabregas made a move back to the Premier League, signing with Chelsea for about €33 million.
He already knew English football well. Fabregas had arrived at Arsenal as a 16-year-old from Barcelona in 2003 and made 212 Premier League appearances for them. When he decided to leave Barcelona, Manchester City also wanted him, but Chelsea convinced him, mostly thanks to Mourinho.
Talking with talkSPORT’s Rory Jennings on YouTube, Fabregas laid out how it all happened. “Honestly, when I made up my mind to leave Barcelona, my first thought was just to go back to Arsenal. They had this buyback clause; they had two weeks to use it after I told them I was leaving. They knew about it but didn’t take it. That surprised me a little, but in the end, I had to think about my career. I was 27, at the peak of my career, and I wanted to continue performing and winning trophies. City and Chelsea were both options.
“But when Mourinho spoke to me, that was it. He showed me his plans for the team and told me about Diego Costa, Courtois, and Filipe Luis and how, with those guys, we’d win the league. He was right, by the way. We won both the Premier League and the Carling Cup.”
Fabregas wasted no time winning over Chelsea fans. On his debut at Burnley, he set up two goals, including a stunning assist for Andre Schurrle. He finished his first season at Chelsea with five goals and 24 assists, along with Premier League and League Cup medals.
Things dipped the next season. Fabregas got just 15 goal contributions, and Chelsea slipped all the way to tenth. But when Antonio Conte took charge in 2016-17, they bounced back, and Fabregas picked up another league title.
He added an FA Cup win in 2018, his second, after his earlier one with Arsenal, and left for Monaco a few months later. His last Chelsea match came in the FA Cup against Nottingham Forest. When he got subbed off, he couldn’t hold back tears.
Chelsea supporters still sing about him; that “Oh, Fabregas is magic...” chant sticks around. And with his name in the conversation for a possible return, maybe they haven’t seen the last of him yet.
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