Dedication can drive Elanga to great things

'HE WON'T STAND STILL, HE WON'T EASE UP', SAYS COACH

- By CIARAN KELLY Football writer

SOME players might think they have made it as they board a private jet to finalise a £55m move to Newcastle United. Anthony Elanga is certainly not one of them.

Rather than taking his foot off the gas, the driven 23-year-old will be desperate to go to the next level. Just ask Neil Ryan, who coached Elanga through the age groups at former club Manchester United.

"I don’t think we have seen the finished article," he told The Journal. "Knowing Anthony's mentality, he will only get better.

"He won't stand still. He won't ease up. His individual work, his preparation, his recovery, everything he does, is like a Cristiano Ronaldo-type athlete. He lives and breathes for his career. That’s him day in, day out. I don’t see that stopping.”

Day in, day out is right. Elanga was even in the middle of a boot camp in the Algarve before the forward flew out to Newcastle to undergo his medical.