Gary Lineker and Micah Richards 'surprised’ Manchester United sold outcast in the summer

Gary Lineker and Micah Richards have both revealed their surprise at seeing Manchester United sell Anthony Elanga over the summer.

The winger was bought by Nottingham Forest for £15m amid his struggles for game time at Old Trafford. After a breakthrough year under former interim boss Ralf Rangnick, which climaxed with a Champions League knockout goal against Atletico Madrid, Elanga struggled under Ten Hag.

The Sweden international started just seven of his 26 appearances last season, and was left out of the squad for the majority of the games from February onwards. He eventually agreed to an exit, and has now recorded two goals and three assists in 13 Forest matches.

READ MORE: Anthony Elanga identifies United's next academy star

READ MORE: Elanga makes admission over Manchester United exit

Speaking on the Rest Is Football podcast, Lineker and Richards said they were surprised that United allowed him to leave given the sparks of quality the academy product had shown. The duo were going through each Premier League club, assessing their pre-season predictions on the latest episode with Alan Shearer.

When it came to Forest, Richards said: “Elanga coming to the club, somewhere he was surplus to requirements."

Lineker interjected: “I quite liked him at Manchester United, I thought he had something. I just thought he had something about him. I was surprised they let him go actually."

Richards responded: “I was surprised as well. He has scored a couple and played really well. Some good celebrations as well!”

Explaining his exit from United earlier this season, Elanga said: “I need to play for in order for me to build that confidence and that’s something I didn’t really get to do a lot at United.

“But now that I’m here