Joey Barton believes Bristol Rovers can make a strong case to take Elliot Anderson back to the Memorial Stadium for the remainder of the 2022/23 campaign. However, the former Newcastle midfielder admits it would be a 'miracle,' a claim now made tougher by Eddie Howe saying he'd like to keep the youngster at the club beyond January.
Anderson spent the second-half of last season on loan with the then League Two side, helping the Gas win promotion back to League One with a number of standout moments in blue and white. Barton had hoped to take the young playmaker back to the Mem at the start of this season, but Magpies boss Howe has given the youngster an opportunity to impress with the first team.
The 20-year-old hasn't looked out of place this season and is now attracting interest from Luton Town, Birmingham City, Preston North End and Reading. Anderson managed seven goals and six assists in 20 starts for Barton's Gas last season, and the former Toon midfielder says his side will once again throw their hat in the ring.
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"We’re in constant dialogue with a lot of people in the North East," Barton told Bristol Live, prior to Eddie Howe saying the youngster would stay at St. James' Park. "For us, he’s on the bench for Newcastle at the moment and he looks like he’s very close to their first team. He looks like he’s one injury away from getting a little run.
"They are in a couple of cup competitions and you would expect him to get some minutes. I want to see El in the black and white stripes and showing what he did at the Mem last year at St James’ Park and in the Premier League because you want to see the lads do as well as they can.
"In the midst of that, if we could get him back on loan, then we would be silly not to do that but I imagine there would be people further up the food chain who are aware of him. The beauty of it for us might be the patience that could be in there because I imagine Championship clubs going for a loan will want to do it relatively handily in the window.
"Who knows? It would be a miracle, it would be unbelievable, but it isn’t impossible. I think we could make a great case to say ‘Look what player we gave you back after the loan’. The Gasheads love him and it’s the next step up for him.
"I think there are lots of ticks that we could maybe make a case for, but ultimately that will come down to Elliot, Eddie Howe and the powers that be at Newcastle to see us as the right place to put him as opposed to maybe somebody fighting for their lives in the Championship."
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