Newcastle United have appointed Ross Wilson as the club’s new sporting director after triggering his release clause at Nottingham Forest.
Wilson arrives at St James’ Park as a replacement for Paul Mitchell, with the hope that he can provide some stability after much recent change in the boardroom. The 41-year-old previously worked at Southampton and Rangers and has an impressive track record when it comes to recruitment.
We’ve picked out some of his best signings as Newcastle begin a new era under his leadership.
Virgil van Dijk – Celtic to Southampton (£13m)
Wilson used his knowledge of the Scottish game to sign Van Dijk, handing the Dutch defender a chance when Premier League rivals had passed.
A £13m deal was struck, with Van Dijk going from strength to strength on the south coast. After less than three seasons at Southampton, he was sold to Liverpool for a world-record £75m fee. Since then, he’s cemented a legacy as one of the Premier League’s all-time greats.
Calvin Bassey – Leicester City to Rangers (£230,000)
Plucked from the Leicester City academy for a development fee of just £230,000, Bassey earned Rangers a record windfall.
The Nigerian spent two seasons at Ibrox, where he won a Scottish Premiership title, Scottish Cup, and produced a man-of-the-match performance in the Europa League final defeat to Eintracht Frankfurt. Ajax paid an initial £19.6m to sign the centre-back, who has since impressed in the Premier League after a move to Fulham a year later.
Murillo – Corinthians to Nottingham Forest (£10.4m)
Nottingham Forest took a gamble on Murillo in 2023, paying just over £10m for a player with just 27 senior appearances for Corinthians. Since then, Murillo has emerged as one of the most highly rated young defenders in English football. He earned Nottingham Forest’s Player of the Season award in his debut campaign and debuted for Brazil in 2025.
Murillo does things differently to most defenders 🤩 pic.twitter.com/MS971XL7rj
— Premier League (@premierleague) April 11, 2024
Anthony Elanga – Manchester United to Nottingham Forest (£15m)
Anthony Elanga joined Nottingham Forest in 2023 after failing to convince at Manchester United. Two seasons of first-team football saw the Swede thrive, as he recorded 11 goals and 20 assists over two Premier League campaigns. Such was his impact that Newcastle paid £55m to sign him in the summer, representing a huge profit for Forest.
Wilson will be reunited with Elanga at Newcastle, having brought him to Forest from Man Utd for just £15m in the summer of 2023.
Elliot Anderson – Newcastle to Nottingham Forest (£35m)
Wilson capitalised on the PSR situation at his new club in 2024 to sign Elliot Anderson from Newcastle. The midfielder had an outstanding first season at Forest, won the UEFA European Under-21 Championship in the summer, and has since broken into the senior side.
His performances for an England shirt have perhaps cemented his place in Thomas Tuchel’s plans for the World Cup. There is a large number of Newcastle fans who hope the 22-year-old can be brought back to the North East.
🥇 Most touches (684)
🥇 Most passes attempted (600)
🥇 Most passes completed (513)
🥇 Most passes into the final third (64)
🥇 Most progressive passes (63)
🥇 Most possession won (55)Is Elliot Anderson the best midfielder in the Premier League right now? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/hSOwOO1nG9
— Statman Dave (@StatmanDave) October 16, 2025
Nikola Milenkovic – Fiorentina to Nottingham Forest (£12m)
The Serbian stopper was perhaps the perfect centre-back for Nuno Espirito Santo. Snapped up for just £12m, the towering defender was named Nottingham Forest Player of the Season in 2024–25 after helping the club into Europe for the first time since 1995.
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