Elliot Anderson admits his preference this season is to stay with Newcastle United and try and force his way into the first-team for the Premier League campaign, as a host of clubs - including Bristol Rovers - wait for the Magpies to make a final decision on the teenager.
Anderson has been consistently used, and praised, by Eddie Howe throughout pre-season, starting two games and coming on as a substitute in the other, enabling the Newcastle head coach to get a thorough look at the attacking midfielder in matchday scenarios and on the training pitch.
Having helped Rovers’ impressive promotion push in the second half of last season, Gas manager Joey Barton has made it clear he’d like to bring the 19-year-old back to BS7 for another campaign, this time in League One, but competition is significant.
League rivals Sheffield Wednesday, plus West Brom, Luton Town, Millwall and have all declared their interest to Newcastle over the prospect of taking Anderson for a season but the player’s wish is to remain in black and white at his hometown club for 2022/23.
“I want to be here,” Anderson told the Shield Gazette . “I want to force my way into the team, but, I guess, that’s the club’s decision. I’ve just got to work as hard as I can on the pitch, and see what happens.
“I think it’s been really good for me, just trying to fit into the team, work on the way they play and try and impress.
“I just want to try and carry on the momentum I had (on loan). Obviously, it’s a lot higher standard, but I need to try and take what I did well (on loan) into these pre-season games.”
Should Howe make the call that Anderson’s development would be better served away from St James’ Park for nine months, his next destination will be heavily determined by how many minutes he’ll play over the course of the campaign.
That could be Rovers’ trump card as the teenager started 20 of a potential 21 League Two matches when on loan last season, and a similar ratio would be the case this term given how important a player he was for the Gas.
However, Rovers cannot argue with the fact that there are several clubs in the mix in a higher division, therefore offering a greater challenge to the midfielder that could be equally important in ensuring his progression. Anderson himself has also indicated he’d want to play at the maximum possible level.
“I’ll explore that when it comes,” he added, of a possible loan move. “But, obviously, you want to be playing as high as you can, push yourself.”
Speaking after Newcastle’s 1-0 friendly defeat to Mainz, in which Anderson played 30 minutes off the bench, Howe insisted a decision was still to be made on his immediate future with friendlies against Benfica, Atalanta and Athletic Bilbao to come.
“Nothing’s clear at this point. He’s in and around the group. He’s not looking out of place. In that company, that’s saying something,” Howe said. "We’ll do what’s best for us and Elliot. When I say us I mean the team and the club. I think if we feel he’ll play minutes, we’ll keep him. If he won’t play and contribute, we’ll loan him."
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