Elanga signed a £15 million contract with Nottingham Forest in the summer of 2023.
The 22-year-old Swedish international earned 39 Premier League games for Manchester United, and he is flourishing in a Forest team that is outperforming all expectations.
Anthony Elanga claims he had to leave Manchester United in order to advance his career because he felt like he was “playing for the sake of playing” there.
On the last day of the 2020–21 season, the 22-year-old scored his first Premier League goal for United. The next season, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and interim manager Ralf Rangnick gave him greater playing time.
After taking over, Erik ten Hag utilized Elanga less frequently, giving him only 417 Premier League minutes as opposed to the 1,208 minutes he had accrued during the 2021–2022 season.
After the Tricky Trees returned to the top division in 2022 after a 23-year break, Elanga helped them avoid relegation by signing a five-year contract at Nottingham Forest, despite being linked to several moves away from Old Trafford.
Forest are now riding high in the Premier League under Nuno Espirito Santo, sitting a handsome fourth in the table, and much of their success has come from the brilliance of Chris Wood, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Elanga, who has been a livewire on the wing.
Elanga has now acknowledged to The Athletic that one of the main reasons he seized the chance to join Forest was because he didn’t think he was genuinely becoming better as a football player at Manchester United.
“I absolutely made the right choice,” Elanga thought. “I haven’t really talked about it, but I was a very young player joining a struggling United club at the time. Yes, there was the thought that, ‘I am playing for Manchester United’. However, I also never thought I was getting better. I was playing for the sake of playing when I did get the odd opportunity off the bench.
“Coming to Forest was so big for me, because suddenly I was regularly playing 90 minutes, while having the opportunity to improve. When I played, I felt like I had purpose; like I was playing and improving in the process. That was the biggest change for me.
“I feel as though I know the league inside-out now, because I have had the chance to learn. I have no regrets, because I am enjoying playing fantastic football with this team. We are in a really good place at the moment.”
Elanga also explained Forest‘s mental resolve and determination to succeed – something that has been instilled by Nuno since he took over the managerial reins from Steve Cooper in December 2023.
“We do believe. That is our motto: to believe every time we step out on the pitch,” Elanga revealed. “We want to keep that mentality. If we win a game, when we return to training his message is always the same: it was a good win, well done, but now on to the next one.
“That belief has been a core strength for us this season.”
