After an outstanding year for both club and country, Elliot Anderson (£6.5m) is now a Manchester City player, signing for a £116 million fee that makes him the most expensive British footballer in history.
For Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers, the midfielder was particularly brilliant at gaining extra defensive contribution (DefCon) points throughout the new feature’s inaugural season.
So, at a different kind of team, can the 23-year-old make a similar FPL impact in 2026/27?
We’ll attempt to answer those questions below.
CAREER SO FAR
Raised in the North East, Anderson made his Newcastle United debut in January 2021.
But an empty first half of 2021/22 meant the youngster was loaned to Bristol Rovers. He looked a class above, helping them achieve promotion with seven goals and six assists.
| Starts (subs) | Goals | Assists | FPL points | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025/26 | Nottingham Forest | Premier League | 37 (1) | 4 | 5 | 180 |
| 2024/25 | Nottingham Forest | Premier League | 33 (4) | 2 | 6 | 107 |
| 2023/24 | Newcastle United | Premier League | 10 (11) | 0 | 2 | 42 |
| 2022/23 | Newcastle United | Premier League | 3 (19) | 0 | 1 | 30 |
| 2021/22 | Bristol Rovers (loan) | League Two | 20 (1) | 7 | 6 | – |
However, just as Anderson began to gather more top-flight minutes in 2023/24, a four-month lower back injury interfered.
Although highly rated on Tyneside, he had to be sacrificed that summer because of Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR).
Receiving £35 million from Nottingham Forest seemed good at the time, but that idea didn’t linger for long. Two goals and six assists in his first year of regular starts almost steered Forest to Champions League qualification, before a relegation-fighting 2025/26 brought a late run of attacking returns.
Internationally, Anderson helped England Under-21s win 2025’s European Championship, before stepping up to the senior side. It’s hard to believe that he only made his full debut less than a year ago, yet is already established as one of Thomas Tuchel’s most crucial players.
A MASTER OF DEFCON
Introduced to FPL last season, players receive two defensive contribution points whenever they collect a specific number of clearances, blocks, interceptions, tackles and – for midfielders and forwards only – ball recoveries.
- READ MORE: Huge FPL rule change as defensive contributions come in for 2025/26
- READ MORE: Simon March – 2025/26, the DefCon revolution + the future of FPL
Anderson reached his position’s 12-action threshold in a whopping 26 of 37 starts (70.30%), averaging 13.94 occasions per 90 minutes. Incredibly, Gameweek 17 began a run of 11 in a row, and 17 from his next 20 starts – a consistent rate of securing at least four points.
If DefCon had existed over the last five seasons, these 52 points would have only been bettered by two Declan Rice campaigns.
Looking at his 2024/25, there would hypothetically have been a similar 13.39 per 90. Though being substituted 20 times meant a lower rate of actually achieving the dozen (18 of 33 starts, 54.54%).
Still, Anderson is about more than this. As well as being the Premier League’s best when it came to DefCon points (52), actions (516) and recoveries (306), he came first for ball touches (3,308) and attracting fouls (80). Fourth for tackles (104), Anderson’s 51 successful crosses ranked sixth.
Thanks to four goals and five assists, Anderson was FPL’s fifth-highest scoring midfielder on 180 points. All from an initial £5.5m price, too.
CAN ANDERSON REPLICATE HIS DEFCON RETURNS AT MAN CITY?
Of course, a few factors stop this being a straightforward situation where someone joins a top team and instantly becomes a better FPL asset.
Anderson has returned late from World Cup duties, having been there for the whole length, while Man City have a new manager after Pep Guardiola’s 10-year spell. Enzo Maresca’s style and core principles are very similar, so the club are hoping for a smooth transition.
But will lots of patient passing be good for Anderson? After all, this way requires fewer ball recoveries, as opposed to Forest’s more transitional style. That’s what catapulted him to DefCon fame, where 516 actions far exceeded Man City’s leading duo: Marc Guehi (£6.0m, 283) and Bernardo Silva (262).
Well, there’s potential. Rodri would have registered 46 and 44 DefCon points if they’d been around for 2021/22 and 2022/23 – two further campaigns where the Citizens dominated possession.
Similarly, Rodri (12.15) and Nico Gonzalez (£5.5m, 11.57) have just registered good DefCon per 90 rates, restricted to 17 starts each.
In the biggest positive sign yet, Anderson registered eight DefCons in less than an hour of action at Wembley on Sunday – so he was on track to reach 12 at that rate:
So, the club’s defensive midfield spot still has DefCon promise.
WILL HE RETAIN SET-PIECE DUTIES?
Another big question surrounds Man City’s set-pieces. Anderson took 87 corners, plenty of free-kicks and even scored a penalty last season. Does he get such duties at the Etihad Stadium?
Not the latter; those go to Erling Haaland (£15.5m).
But the others mostly belonged to rotation risks Phil Foden (£7.0m), Rayan Cherki (£7.5m) and the now-departed Tijani Reijnders and Bernardo Silva.
Encouragingly, Anderson was straight on set plays in the Community Shield:
If the answer is yes, Anderson remains one of FPL’s best all-rounders alongside Rice, James Garner (£6.0m), Dominik Szoboszlai (£7.0m) and Anton Stach (£6.0m). Someone who covers lots of ground and likes to tackle, but is also a progressive passer, set-piece taker and very good dribbler.
SHOULD ANDERSON BE AN FPL TARGET?
Having got a fitness-boosting hour at Wembley, he should be straight into Maresca’s starting XI in Gameweek 1. The exits of Rodri, Bernardo and Reijnders pretty much guarantee this, too.
In terms of the schedule, our Fixture Ticker believes Man City have the fourth-best run between Gameweeks 1 and 7. Hostings of Coventry City, Sunderland and Ipswich Town particularly appeal.
- READ MORE: Which teams have the worst early fixtures of 2026/27?
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That’s why FPL managers will likely want coverage at both ends of the pitch. Haaland, Antoine Semenyo (£8.5m) and Nico O’Reilly (£6.5m) are currently being favoured over Anderson (in terms of ownership), and there can’t be more than three Man City players in an FPL XI.
He certainly can’t compete with any of those three (even O’Reilly!) for goal threat.
But can FPL managers afford all three of those premium-ish City picks? Likely not if they’re going for other big hitters like Bruno Fernandes (£12.0m).
So, Anderson’s affordability comes into it. Even with a price rise, he is still the fifth-best value-for-money midfielder based on 2025/26’s points and 2026/27’s prices.
It’s perhaps worth giving him a couple of weeks, if possible, as he’ll likely need the full-game, 90 minutes to maximise his chances of reaching DefCon points. And those are such a big thing with Anderson: he bagged 52 DefCon points in 2025/26, but only 35 attacking return points.
Sunday’s start was his first appearance of pre-season, and he may need a week or two to return to full match-sharpness.
Anderson on a Gameweek 3/4 Wildcard may be a sage buy. A set-and-forget presence who you can rely on for a trickle of points through the winter, allowing you to fight fires elsewhere.
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