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Why Nottingham Forest have found the next Adam Wharton - and completely replaced Elliot Anderson

Nottingham Forest’s summer sale of Elliot Anderson to Manchester City for £116m initially left a void in their midfield, but the club has since found an unexpected solution in James McAtee. The 24-year-old, signed from Manchester City for £30m last summer, had struggled for first-team opportunities under previous management, starting just two Premier League matches before his arrival.

However, under new manager Oliver Glasner, McAtee has transformed into a key player, accumulating 684 Premier League minutes—ranking fourth among his teammates—while adapting seamlessly to a more prominent role in Glasner’s favoured 3-4-2-1 formation. His defensive work rate has been particularly notable, averaging 4.1 tackles per 90, filling the ball-winning responsibility previously held by Anderson, whose passing efficiency had previously placed him in the 97th percentile.

The shift has allowed Forest to retain Ibrahim Sangaré and Xaver Schager as a more fluid midfield duo, with McAtee stepping into the role of a high-energy distributor rather than a pure playmaker.

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