After making way for £82 million Antony at Manchester United, the last thing Anthony Elanga needed was to lose his place in Sweden’s starting XI too. The youngster’s frustration, then, is as understandable as it is palpable; dropped to the bench without warning for Saturday’s 4-1 UEFA Nations League thumping by Serbia.
“100 per cent (I’m disappointed to lose my place,” Elanga tells Fotboll Skanalen. “Any player who doesn’t start will be disappointed. No, no explanation (from Sweden coach Janne Andersson).”
It seems Elanga will have to get used to watching on from the sidelines. With Antony, Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho all ahead of him in the pecking order at United – plus Cristiano Ronaldo and the returning Anthony Martial – a lack of game-time at club level is likely to have an impact, a negative one at that, on his international prospects.
Now, that is not to say Elanga won’t have chances to impress under Erik ten Hag. The former Ajax boss clearly likes him; starting the 20-year-old in three successive Premier League matches recently. United also have Europa League and EFL Cup fixtures on the rota.
But cameo appearances here and there, and the odd cup outing against limited opposition, feel as likely to stump his development as they are to progress it. With that in mind, a loan spell at Everton, presuming the Toffees renew their interest in the January window, is starting to seem more and more like maybe the perfect move at the perfect time.
Should Anthony Elanga join Everton on loan from Manchester United?
Everton, per The Mail, are admirers of Elanga. And you only have to look at the way Demarai Gray has performed this season – and Anthony Gordon last – to realise how well-placed Frank Lampard’s Toffees are to getting the best out of direct, spring-heeled wide forwards like Man United’s fresh-faced academy graduate.
Elanga is a player in the Gray mould; Fast, positive and at his most effective when driving at full-backs with an eye for goal. It’s worth pointing out that Christian Pulisic and Callum Hudson-Odoi, two more widemen who love to run with the ball at their feet, endured quite the drop off after Lampard was replaced by Thomas Tuchel too.
It’s still not quite certain what sort of a manager Lampard is. But the former Chelsea boss clearly relishes ball-carrying wingers with pace to burn. Wingers like Elanga.
“He’s improving,” Raphael Varane said of Elanga a couple of months ago. “Very young but he has the right mentality to improve and to express his quality. He’s extremely fast and he has a good finish. He’s really helping the team, he’s always positive and tries to do his best.”
Unfortunately for Elanga, his ‘best’ is unlikely to be enough to secure a place in Ten Hag’s rejuvenated and replenished starting XI from here on out.
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