Newcastle and Barcelona are in advanced negotiations that could conclude with Anthony Gordon exchanging St James’ Park for the Camp Nou.
For some weeks Bayern Munich had been favourites to sign the England winger but now Gordon is on standby to fly to Barcelona on Thursday or Friday for a medical.
Although personal terms are not believed to be a problem, Gordon will only head to Catalonia if the two clubs can agree on the structure of a deal in the region of £70m. Bayern and Liverpool are believed to be waiting in the wings should talks break down.
With Barcelona’s hopes of making part of the fee appearance-related not satisfactory to Newcastle, there is still some haggling to do. However, the north-east club are anxious to complete a deal before Gordon flies to Florida on Monday to join the England squad.
Although the transfer window does not open until 15 June, the intention is to complete all the formalities of the potential transfer by the weekend and then rubber-stamp the move in the middle of next month.
Should negotiations with Barcelona collapse, other big clubs are expected to step up their respective interest in a player who can play on both wings – although Gordon prefers operating on the left – as well as through the middle.
Liverpool came close to signing the former Everton forward in 2024 and Gordon has admitted he became “unsettled for a while” when that move foundered.
In recent weeks it has become evident that a transfer is in both his and Newcastle’s interest. The winger – whose contract on Tyneside runs to 2030 – was not involved in the final six games of the season for Eddie Howe’s team, initially with what was described as a “minor hip injury” before being an unused substitute in the closing four fixtures.
He arrived at St James’ Park for £45m in January 2023 and is the joint-third leading scorer in this season’s Champions League after scoring 10 goals. Only Harry Kane and Kylian Mbappé have scored more.
Although Gordon ended the season as Newcastle’s top scorer in all competitions with 17 goals, he tended to reserve his best performances for Europe and proved inconsistent during a largely underwhelming Premier League campaign.
The 25-year-old’s versatility appeals to Barcelona’s manager, Hansi Flick, who seems unlikely to make Marcus Rashford’s loan move from Manchester United permanent. Gordon will, however, face competition from Lamine Yamal and Raphinha on the flanks at the Camp Nou. Flick, meanwhile, still retains the option of signing Rashford – whose wages are understood to be considerably higher than the sum Gordon is ready to accept – on a permanent basis for £26m.
While David Hopkinson, Newcastle’s chief executive, has said the club will only sell “on our terms”, he knows he needs to trade to reconstruct Howe’s side in the wake of this season’s disappointing 12th -placed league finish.
Howe is anxious to avoid a repeat of last year’s long-running, increasingly acrimonious Alexander Isak transfer saga that only concluded when the Sweden striker moved to Liverpool on last summer’s transfer deadline day.
