The secrets behind Anthony Elanga’s transformation into Nottingham Forest’s flying machine and the Man United stars who inspired him to become a leading voice in Nuno Espirito Santo’s dressing room

Bang! When Ryan Yates cleared the ball towards Anthony Elanga, it was as if the Nottingham Forest winger had heard the gun at the start of an Olympic 100m final.

The second Yates’s header started dropping towards him, Elanga hit the accelerator and as he sped across the turf, it was clear there would be no denying him. Neither Patrick Dorgu nor Alejandro Garnacho could stop him and when Noussair Mazraoui hesitated, the race was run.

Elanga’s calm finish was the night’s equivalent of a gold medal moment, an astonishing 85 yards covered in nine seconds.

That would work out at 11.5sec for 100m. All with a ball at his feet and with opponents trying to impede him.

It was the only goal against Elanga’s former club Manchester United last Tuesday.

Elanga had been at Old Trafford since he was 11, but was sold to Forest in summer 2023 for just £15million.

He is so central to the dynamic Nuno Espirito Santo has created that Forest never considered £50m bids from Newcastle for him last summer or in January

Forest want to nail Elanga down to a new deal even though his current one has three years left

For context, Southampton’s teenage attacker Tyler Dibling is valued at £100m by his club, who are about to be relegated, while United paid £82m for Antony, now thriving at Real Betis but never cut out for Premier League football. While the Elanga deal was just one of several shockers United have made in the transfer market in recent times, it marked a turning point for Forest.

Gone was the scattergun approach that followed promotion as the club focused on talented youngsters who could grow into established Premier League performers. Not only has Elanga achieved that, he is at the beating heart of a team who are the story of the season in the top flight.

Even though he is only 22, Elanga is one of Forest’s band leaders along with Morgan Gibbs-White, Ola Aina and Callum Hudson-Odoi.

He speaks Swedish, English, French and Spanish and is so central to the dynamic Nuno Espirito Santo has created that Forest never considered bids from Newcastle for him last summer or earlier this year, even when they reached £50m.

A new contract will be offered in the coming months, even though Elanga’s deal still has three years to run.

When Forest travel to Aston Villa on Saturday, the football public will focus on Marcus Rashford, another player who looks revived away from United, but Elanga’s impact has been greater.

Perhaps Villa were inspired by what Elanga has achieved at Forest when they moved for Rashford in the winter. Elanga has six goals and eight assists and with Champions League football tantalisingly close, he and Forest hope the strike against United will be just the start of the story.

‘He is improving because he has been able to play game after game,’ said Nuno. ‘His team-mates recognise his abilities and his pace. That goal on Tuesday was a credit to him and his capacity to drive with the ball and keep increasing the speed while controlling it.’

Forest are third with eight games left and look set to play Champions League football next term

Elanga has logged six goals and eight assists in 30 Premier League appearances this season

It is not about the pace alone. Like his former United team-mate Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Elanga was born in Malmo, Sweden, and credits Ibrahimovic and Cristiano Ronaldo with helping him mature quickly as a young player.

He is ferociously dedicated to his craft. Elanga works regularly with Tom Joyce, a fitness coach trusted by numerous footballers, to improve his power and agility.

In one exercise, Elanga keeps one foot suspended off the ground while moving the other rapidly between three fixed targets —designed to aid changes of direction at high speed. Another he swears by is box jumps, leaping onto a raised surface from a squat position. Once, Elanga managed to achieve a height of 6ft, remarkable for a man who is only 5ft 10ins. He incorporates strength and flexibility work into his pre-match routine.

Elanga also has a personal chef and uses red-light therapy, which is thought to aid recovery by using infrared rays to penetrate deep into tissues and joints.

When Forest rejected those offers from Newcastle, many were surprised. While everyone knew Elanga’s strengths, he was far from complete. From the outside, the £50m fee looked tempting. Inside the City Ground, there was never any chance it would be accepted. The goal against United shows why, yet the decision was about far more than what Elanga can deliver on the pitch.

Time to rewind to the away dressing room at the Vitality Stadium on January 25. Forest had just been thrashed 5-0 by Bournemouth, comfortably their worst performance of the season.

With players starting to doubt themselves, Elanga was one of those who lifted the mood after the game. Put it behind us and move on to the next one.

The Swede is a relentlessly positive character and his upbeat mentality, even at such a low moment, raised the spirits of quieter personalities such as Elliot Anderson and Neco Williams. During the week that followed, Elanga was as focused and professional as ever, setting an example for his colleagues to follow.

He credits former Sweden team-mate Zlatan Ibrahimovic for helping him to mature

The Swede also sees Cristiano Ronaldo as a figure who has mentored him as a youngster

Elanga is an exemplary professional, prioritising his diet, recovery and training off the pitch 

The winger works regularly with Tom Joyce, a fitness coach trusted by numerous footballers, to improve his power and agility

Never mind that these were the closing days of the transfer window and Newcastle were showing an interest. It was business as usual for Elanga and sure enough, Forest crushed Brighton 7-0 in their next match. His demeanour following the Bournemouth game was probably even more influential than the three assists he provided that day.

This sparky personality makes Elanga popular with training ground staff and he stays at the base long after sessions have finished, shooting the breeze and playing games — an online version of Ludo is a particular favourite — with his team-mates.

Elanga’s mentality helped persuade former Forest boss Steve Cooper to move for him two summers ago, when the club knew they would lose Brennan Johnson to Tottenham. Forest’s recruitment staff had looked closely at Elanga’s data and even though the main statistics were unspectacular, a deeper dive convinced them that given regular football, Elanga would thrive.

Thanks to a long pitch via Zoom that detailed his plans for Elanga, as well as the prospect of playing for such vocal supporters, Cooper helped Forest beat Everton to the deal. Then as now, Elanga is perfect for the way Forest attack. Because they sit deep and invite pressure, he is often charging at a scrambling defence as Forest launch their lightning counter-attacks. Give a rapid player room in front of him and any opposition will be in trouble.

Elanga will likely be playing in the Champions League next season, yet if he wishes to operate there regularly he would need to add subtlety to his speed. The one-twos, the ability to drift inside off the flank, the quick thinking in tight spaces — these are the qualities that elevate fast attackers into the top bracket. Think Kylian Mbappe, Lamine Yamal, Ousmane Dembele or Bukayo Saka. But Elanga is not there yet.

It is a wider question for Forest, too. Next season, Nuno’s side may need more strings to their bow against teams who will have a better idea of how to stop them.