Rich Get Richer: City Shatters Arsenal’s Quadruple Dreams at Wembley Before Dropping $153M on Elliot Anderson

Pep Guardiola just reminded everyone why Manchester City remains the apex predator of English soccer. Sunday afternoon at Wembley was supposed to be a heavyweight clash, but City ultimately walked away with the Carabao Cup following a commanding 2-0 shutout over Arsenal. The catalyst was Nico O’Reilly, who completely flipped the script in the second half. The kid bagged a quickfire double across four chaotic minutes that flat-out stunned the Gunners, securing the first piece of silverware of the campaign for the blue side of Manchester.

You could see exactly what this one meant to Guardiola on the touchline. The guy was electric. It was a milestone afternoon for the Spaniard, etching his name into the record books as the first manager ever to win the EFL Cup five times, adding the 2026 trophy to his dominant 2018–2021 run. It also happens to be the 40th piece of hardware of his managerial career, a number that is frankly hard to wrap your head around.

On the flip side, Mikel Arteta is left holding the bag yet again. He’s been chasing a major trophy since 2020, and that frustrating wait drags on. Arsenal walked into Wembley with genuine quadruple aspirations, but conceding those two lightning-fast goals seemed to completely kill their spirit. Now, they’re left licking their wounds and trying to figure out how things derailed so quickly, though they technically still have three other competitions to try and salvage the season.

The Front Office Flex

But the scary part isn’t just that City is hoarding trophies again. It’s what they’re doing while the confetti is still falling. Behind the scenes, the front office just pulled off a historic flex to lock down Nottingham Forest midfielder Elliot Anderson for the 2026–27 season. We’re talking a jaw-dropping $153 million (£116 million) fee. That astronomical figure makes the 23-year-old the most expensive British player of all time and City’s priciest signing ever.

To put that mountain of cash into perspective, it ranks as the fourth-most expensive transfer in the history of the sport. It sits only behind Alexander Isak’s mega-move to Liverpool last summer and the legendary ransoms Paris Saint-Germain unloaded for Neymar and Kylian Mbappé. City basically laughed off the $137.5 million (£105 million) Arsenal spent on Declan Rice three summers ago. Forest initially knocked back City’s opening bid, but the Sky Blues never panicked, fully confident they had the financial muscle to push the deal over the finish line.

Finding the New Engine

So why drop that kind of money on Anderson? Honestly, he’s the ultimate modern-day engine room. He’s a relentless, all-action midfielder capable of dictating every single phase of play. In a ridiculously inflated market packed with guys like Sandro Tonali and Adam Wharton, the former Newcastle prospect is simply a cut above. He logged minutes in literally every single Premier League fixture for Forest last season, starting all but one.

That kind of ironman reliability is exactly what City desperately needs right now. Rodri has been the undisputed anchor in Manchester for years, but the Spaniard just turned 30, his body has been betraying him with injuries over the last couple of seasons, and the rumor mill is already churning about his potential exit. Finding a successor was the club’s absolute top priority this summer, and they got their guy.

The deal is basically a wrap at this point. Anderson is currently stateside representing England at the 2026 World Cup, where he’ll knock out his physical exam before officially putting pen to paper. Hammering out personal terms isn’t expected to be a hurdle. Even England boss Thomas Tuchel was raving about him from camp this week. “He’s a top player. There’s nothing more to say, he’s the full package,” Tuchel told Sky Sports. “I’m happy that he’s with us on that kind of level and he’s a key player for us.”