Manchester City confirmed the signing of England international Elliot Anderson from Nottingham Forest on Thursday, paying a club-record £116 million (€135 million) for the 23-year-old midfielder. The deal, agreed during the World Cup and finalized after a medical at England’s training base in Kansas City, makes Anderson the third most expensive player in Premier League history, behind only Liverpool’s Alexander Isak and Chelsea’s Morgan Rogers.

City moved decisively to thwart cross-town rivals Manchester United, who had tracked Anderson closely. The player’s mind was made up, however, when the champions’ interest crystallized. “As soon as I knew they wanted me, I was determined to make it happen,” he said. His on-field profile—a box-to-box midfielder who covered 411 kilometres last season, completed 2,080 passes and made 104 tackles—drew praise from director of football Hugo Viana, who called him “one of the outstanding young midfield talents in world football.”

The transfer marks the opening salvo of the Enzo Maresca era. Guardiola’s departure after a decade of dominance has been accompanied by the exits of Bernardo Silva and John Stones, while Rodri’s future remains unresolved. Anderson, signed to a five-year deal with an option for a further 12 months, is expected to inject physicality into a midfield tasked with maintaining familiar patterns of possession and pressing. “It’s a club built to win trophies and compete at the very top of the game,” Anderson noted, his words echoing the continuity that Maresca, a former Guardiola assistant, promises to uphold.

Across the Gulf, where City’s ownership has long been the project’s architect, and in the European football press, Anderson’s remark that “for as long as I’ve known Manchester, City have been the kings of Manchester” carried local symbolism. The first Manchester derby of the season is scheduled for 13 September at Old Trafford, providing an immediate test of the city’s shifting balance of power. Anderson reports for pre-season training next month, the weight of a record fee and a dynasty’s hopes on his shoulders.