Anthony Elanga was tipped to start Sweden's World Cup opener against Tunisia on the bench after a photographed line-up sheet suggested he may not be in the first choice XI. Seb Larsson was pictured with a 4-4-2 on paper that listed Elanga as a striker, but the leaked sheet appeared to be a reserve set-up rather than the team Sweden planned to send out on Monday.
That uncertainty has followed Elanga from club football to the international stage. He moved from Nottingham Forest to Newcastle United for £55million and struggled for impact, failing to score in the Premier League all season and finishing with one goal in total, in the League Cup tie against Man City. By the end of the campaign he had been pushed behind Jacob Murphy and Harvey Barnes on the right side of attack, a sharp drop for a player who had impressed at Nottingham Forest.
The image, first reported by Sportbladet, matters because it was not a casual training note. If Larsson was indeed holding a second XI, Sweden's likely attacking plan against Tunisia would point elsewhere, with Alexander Isak and Viktor Gyokeres in attack together and Benjamin Nygren potentially used wide. That would leave Elanga waiting for a place in a team sheet that, on paper at least, still keeps him in the conversation even as it puts him outside the starting picture.
There is another complication. Earlier this week Elanga clashed knees with an opponent in a pre-tournament game against Greece and was taken to hospital for tests, raising a brief worry about whether he would be fit at all. He later played down the knock, saying the pain felt calm and should go away in a day or two. It was a reassuring line, but it did not erase the fact that his World Cup run is being shaped by both a poor club season and a body check that arrived just before the tournament began.
The clearest answer now will come when Sweden name their side for Tunisia. If Elanga starts, the leaked sheet was only a reserve clue. If he does not, the bench would cap a difficult stretch that has already turned a £55million move into a search for form.
