Throughout the course of his career with Newcastle United, Elliot Anderson has been a fan favorite. The young 20-year-old started his career climbing the ranks of the Newcastle United U-21 Academy.
In the 2021-2022 season, Anderson was loaned to League Two Bristol Rivers where he impressed through 21 contests.
Anderson contributed seven goals and six assists during his time with The Gas. He was also well disciplined picking up just two yellow cards in his time on loan. He was also part of a 7-0 season finale over Scunthorpe to send Bristol Rovers up automatically via goal difference to League One.
While with Bristol Rivers the young prodigy also was awarded the April EFL Young Player and EFL League Two Player of the month awards in 2022.
As expected, Newcastle United took notice of their young star contributing on a high level while on loan and brought him back to the team in the 2022-2023 season.
This season, he has appeared in just nine contests and over 45 minutes in just two. Against Crystal Palace, earlier in the season, he recorded 78 minutes of playtime, and against Sheffield Wednesday in January he recorded 60 minutes. Outside of those two contests, the next highest number of minutes he played came against Everton where he played 18 minutes.
While his appearances have been short and sweet, he has shown plenty of promise as a reliable midfielder.
Will he go back out on loan?
Anderson is thought to be attracting plenty of interest from League One and Championship sides for next season, but could also remain at St James’ Park. It would not be outlandish to see him go back out on loan.
His original loan sent him to League Two, this time a League One or EFL Championship team would be a better spot for Newcastle United to see what he can really do. A perfect fit would be in the midfield for West Brom. Currently, they sit sixth in the EFL and are an excellent team that is looking to bolster their midfield core.
A one-year loan would be suitable for the young prospect, giving him plenty of time to get first-team reps in with a league just below the Premier League.
If he does not go on loan, what would his role be like with Newcastle United?
Well, this one is a tricky topic. As discussed above, Anderson has gotten very few minutes over the course of the 2022-2023 season and has had just two games above 45 minutes.
That simply cannot be the case going forward if Newcastle United wants to keep him on the first team. Giving him little minutes does nothing but hinder his development.
Just a few days ago, they took on West Ham United. Starting midfielder Bruno Guimaraes was out due to a red card he received in the semi-final round of the Carabao Cup, and it was expected that Anderson would receive an influx of minutes due to this. That would not be the case and he would only play nine minutes.
If Anderson is not loaned out, and Newcastle United continue to push their way up the Premier League table, it becomes more and more unlikely that he gets real time to shine with the first team.
If Newcastle continues to succeed, either he will be used as a late-game substitution, or he will receive practically no minutes. The best option for the team to grow him is by sending him out on loan for at least one more season to see what the fan favorite can do.