Anderson's journey from schoolboy prodigy to England star and

Elliot Anderson was the schoolboy footballer so good his teachers discussed placing a bet on him playing for England. The bet was never made, but Thomas Tuchel is backing him to be a winner at the World Cup. Anderson's journey from the playing fields of Tyneside to the World Cup stage, and to potentially becoming the most expensive player in British football history, continues when England play Ghana in Boston on Tuesday.

The midfielder is the one that painfully got away from Newcastle United but is still revered and respected in his home city as the "quiet and self-effacing" local boy made good. Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe called Anderson's £30m sale to Nottingham Forest in July 2024 "the most reluctant in my career", a deal effectively forced on the Magpies because they feared they were going to break profit and sustainability rules (PSR) and incur a points deduction following years of imbalanced trading.

The sense of loss has become more acute as the 23-year-old emerged as a central component in England's World Cup plans. Head coach Tuchel calls him "the full package", with a move to Manchester City in the offing. Talks are ongoing after a deal worth around £120m was rejected by Forest. It is also felt by Scotland, who hoped Anderson would play for the country as he has a Scottish grandmother. He was called up for the Euro 2024 qualifier in Cyprus and a friendly with England in September 2023 having represented the Scots at under-21 and junior level, only to pull out through injury before pledging allegiance to England.

Anderson off the Geordie production line

Anderson's first steps in football came playing with his two elder brothers, Louie and Wil, the latter gaining prominence as a contestant on reality TV show Love Island. Jonathan Roys, Anderson's former English and PE teacher at Valley Gardens Middle School, who was also his head of year, told BBC Sport: "His brothers had been through the school and I played against his dad. His brothers were decent, but I think being the youngest of three he was used to getting bossed about a little bit, but he took no quarter off anybody. He'd get stuck right in."

Anderson put down a marker for future success when he was captain and scored a hat-trick in a 3-0 win when Valley Gardens won the English leg of Danone Nations Cup in 2014, a prestigious worldwide youth tournament. His parents, Iain and Helen, ensured studying was never sidelined, with lessons organised around time at Newcastle United's academy, his beloved club he was always destined to join.

"Elliot was quiet, self-effacing lad at school," says Roys. "He came from a great family. They made sure we organised his lessons around time he spent at Newcastle's academy. As head of year you can sometimes deal with kids who might be causing problems but he was never any trouble. He just got on with it. Reports were usually glowing, both from school and Newcastle's academy."

It was sport in which Anderson excelled — any sport. Roys says: "You could see he had something special as a footballer. He had something different when he played other sports as well. He could play with the ball. He was standard size, not a massive lad for his age, but he more than held his own. He was the stand-out player despite not being the biggest."

Anderson emerged as an outstanding young player at Valley Gardens Middle School, then at the famous Wallsend Boys' Club, where Alan Shearer, Peter Beardsley and Michael Carrick honed their trade. The England v Ghana World Cup 2026 match takes place on 23 June at 21:00 BST, broadcast on BBC One, BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website and app from 20:00 BST, with commentary on BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds.