Elliot Anderson & Morgan Gibbs-White get England-themed Nottingham Forest relegation warning as transfer speculation rages at the City Ground

Having made history this season by appointing four permanent managers, Forest are hoping that Vitor Pereira will be the man to steer them clear of relegation danger - while also making positive progress to the Europa League quarter-finals.

If a trapdoor that leads into the Championship were to open up, then a firesale of top talent would be expected at the City Ground during the next window. Anderson and Gibbs-White could form part of that mass exodus, but they are determined to keep top-flight football on Trentside.

Both men are hoping to form part of England’s World Cup plans this summer, with Anderson making Thomas Tuchel’s latest squad, and regular outings at the highest possible level will be required in order to bolster tallies of senior international caps.

Anderson is already being linked with Manchester giants City and United, alongside a return to his roots at Newcastle, while Gibbs-White has attracted admiring glances from ambitious - and big-spending - Premier League outfits.

Quizzed on whether at least one member of that midfield duo could stay at the City Ground, former Reds forward Harewood - speaking exclusively with GOAL on World Cup betting ahead of this summer - said: “I would say so. If they stay up, then you've got Premier League football again for another year. And that's a massive tool to keep hold of your best players.

“Obviously, all players, me as an ex-player, when I was playing, you want to play in the best leagues, the top leagues and play for the best teams and try and win trophies. And obviously, at first, Forest would have to try and keep hold of them. But at the same time, I bet they have aspirations to go and win trophies and do well and even to play for England. So if Forest go down, then I think the chances are less of going to play for England and being in the top leagues because what they are producing is unbelievable.

“Morgan against Man City, it's the best I've seen him play for a long time because he needed it to try and let everyone know that he is still there and he wanted to. And he didn't look out of place at all. So he made a good claim for him, obviously, playing against Man City, showing what he's capable of. And Anderson, these are top-class players. But for some reason, when they're playing for Forest, it's just not happened for them at the moment.”

While Forest will be reluctant to part with either Anderson or Gibbs-White, the same is true of Samba centre-half Murillo. The marauding 23-year-old is said to be registering on recruitment radars at Arsenal, Chelsea, United and Liverpool.

Asked if the entertaining South American is destined for big things, Harewood said: “Yeah, he's definitely been consistent. The main consistent one that's literally gone every game week in, week out. It looks like he's going to be a guaranteed seven, eight as a centre-half and that position is hard because you're going up against some top strikers, top number nines. So, he has been solid. And even going forward as well, he looks a threat when he goes forward to even nick a little goal here and there.

“But yeah, Forest will do well to keep hold of him next year. Hopefully, they'll be in the Premier League to try and persuade him even more. But if Forest go down, I think they will struggle to keep hold of him.”

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