Nottingham Forest fans have been hailing Elliot Anderson as the Geordie Maradona since he arrived from Newcastle United two years ago, yet in truth they had not idea how the transfer would turn out.

One of a number of deals between the two clubs as each looked to stay within the financial rules, Anderson's move was not seen anywhere near as seismic as it would turn out to be .

It did not take long for the special talent to emerge, yet it is still striking how quickly Anderson has risen.

Not even 12 months since he played for England in the Under-21 European Championship, the youngster is already seen as a lock for Thomas Tuchel's starting XI at the World Cup this summer while only two of his teammates from last year's tournament have made the senior squad.

The fact that this is all taken as a given shows what an exceptional footballer Anderson has become in what has been a remarkably testing year.

Battling relegation and reaching a Europa League semi-final under four - four! - different managers is more unusual than most footballers will ever have in their career, and even that all pales to insignificance when weighed against the tragic loss of his mum in May.

Click here to find out the latest Manchester City news in our daily newsletter Nothing has taken Anderson out of his stride though in a year where he has played multiple positions to stand out as one of the best players in the Premier League .

City are the clear favourites to sign him this summer, but the fee will likely be one of the biggest ever seen in the top flight to reflect what everyone at the City Ground has witnessed.

"I think he's improved in a lot of different ways," explained Matt Davies, host of the Forest Focus podcast .

"If you go back to the start of the season, we've had so much chaos with managers, but he was playing a deeper role with Nuno [Espirito Santo].

Ange Postecoglou came in and he was getting him on the ball and dictating things.

Then [Sean] Dyche came in and he was just bypassing him and wasting him.

It was very frustrating.

"But all the way through that, Anderson was playing well in terms of winning duels, getting the ball back, keeping the ball, taking the ball under pressure - all the things you'd look for in what I imagine a City player is, I would say he's excellent at.

You can give him the ball in any position, he'll get it back high up the pitch, he'd be brave, he's athletic, you don't knock him off the ball even though he's not the biggest.

He's physically very, very good.

"And then [Vitor] Pereira came in, and he's really thrived in two areas.

He's played him a bit higher and got him to be a bit braver and get into the box more.

He scored obviously a really good goal against City from outside the box.

His creativity came to the fore more and more in the final weeks of the season and he's taken on more and more attacking responsibility "The other thing that he's really taken a big....