Summer Lee

Rob Lee has backed Elliot Anderson to prove his worth on the international stage at this summer's World Cup but knows Newcastle United will rue their decision to sell him

Former England star Rob Lee has backed Elliot Anderson to be one of the stars of the World Cup - but admits that his rise to the global stage will sting Newcastle United.

Anderson was sold for what now seems like a snip of a fee at just £35million to Nottingham Forest two years ago as Newcastle fended off the threat of the PSR rulebook and a near-certain points deduction as the Magpies just scraped into the black in 2024.

The Geordie boy could leave Forest this summer for a fee of around £100m, and Thomas Tuchel has opened the door for transfers to take place during the tournament.

But Newcastle legend Lee knows that Toon fans and Eddie Howe will be watching on with a little envy if he rips up the world stage in America.

Lee said: "Without a doubt, Elliot Anderson is a dead cert starter alongside Declan Rice and Jude Bellingham. He can be one of the stars of the tournament for sure.

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"How Newcastle had to let him go, though, that is what is wrong with football. Newcastle had a young lad they brought through and then had to sell him for PSR reasons.

"Surely that isn't why financial rules weren't brought in for that? I have always been an advocate of bringing players through the Academy and youth team.

"When I first joined Newcastle, we had Steve Watson, Lee Clark, Alan Thompson and Steve Howey, who had all come through the youth system.

"They all had great careers, and that is surely what the Academy should be doing now, but all of a sudden, Newcastle had to sell him.

"Newcastle lost a talent who would have loved to have stayed and played for his club and country, but he will now be somebody else’s gain.”

Ex-Derby County, West Ham and Charlton ace Lee, though, also counters that had Anderson stayed on Tyneside, he may not have been given his big chance with the Three Lions, the 21-times capped ex-midfielder said: "Would he have got in the midfield at Newcastle at the time with Joelinton, Bruno and Tonali?

"Sometimes you do have to go away, but I just find it hard to take that Newcastle had to sell him and how it has worked out.”

Lee, who scored on his England debut in 1994 at Wembley against Romania, was named in Glenn Hoddle’s squad for the finals in France four years later.

He admits that things could have been different after losing to Argentina with 10 men in St Etienne on penalties in the last 16, a side that contained David Beckham, sent off against the South Americans, Michael Owen, Paul Scholes and Alan Shearer. When asked about England's chances, Lee said: "We always go to a World Cup and look at England and think on paper we've got a great team.

"But things happen in World Cups; you need luck. In 1998, we didn't get that. David Beckham got sent off against Argentina, and it was never a sending off, and Sol Campbell scored a goal that should have stood.

"We could have gone on. This time, if we get a bit of luck, I think we have a team as good as anybody at the World Cup.

"If Thomas Tuchel picks the right team and keeps everybody fit, we have a chance.

"We need to stay game fit, though, that is an important one because we don't have too many strikers other than Harry Kane.

"Nobody who plays like Kane, and you can build a team around him, if he gets injured, we are in trouble. They should get through the group regardless; it will be who they get next.

"In 1998, we lost to Romania in a group game, and we'd have missed Argentina. So it's little things that can happen that can change it. On paper, though, we have a chance; we just need the luck to go with it."