Anthony Gordon to Barcelona is a bemusing but welcome move for Tuchel and England | OneFootball

Anthony Gordon is about to join Barcelona for £70m. It’s great news for Gordon, maybe very good news for England and not necessarily bad news for Marcus Rashford, but news that we’ve received with some bemusement, albeit in the hope that we will once again be proved wrong by a footballer who’s made a habit of making us look like fools.

He’s been a man in demand throughout his career. After one full season of senior football for Everton, Chelsea had bids of £40m and then £45m rejected by the Toffees in the summer of 2022.

In January 2023 he moved to Newcastle for £40m. After his first full season at St James’ Park, Gordon very nearly moved to Liverpool for £75m.

And now Barcelona are closing in on his £70m transfer after Bayern Munich had already made a ‘concrete offer’ to Gordon and his representatives.

After every transfer, failed bid, rumour of interest or all-but-sealed move we’ve asked ourselves the same question: Why?

Why would Chelsea be offering £45m for a player with six goal contributions in 35 games? Why would Newcastle pay £40m for a player with nine goal contributions in 51 games? Why would Liverpool pay £75m when they already had a superior left winger in Luis Diaz? The exact same question could be asked of Bayern Munich this summer.

And finally, why are Barcelona baulking at £26m for Rashford but are more than happy to pay nearly three times that sum for Gordon?

Rashford is currently on roughly twice as much as Gordon, but his willingness to give up some of that salary to ensure a permanent move and a presumed Gordon wage increase means the difference isn’t going to be significant enough to make that a big factor in Barcelona’s decision. Rashford has reportedly already agreed personal terms with the Catalans anyway.

It’s always felt like managers and sporting directors have known something about Gordon that’s been kept secret from everyone else; something we’re not seeing from a footballer who is quite fast and scores a few goals.

He was admittedly excellent in 2023/24, racking up 11 goals and 15 assists in the Premier League to make us naysayers look very daft indeed.

But despite having that knack of proving doubters wrong and the fire in his belly to silence critics, we would be concerned if we were sporting director Deco or the other Barcelona decision-makers by some stat-padding in a season which has provoked them into making their move.

After our friends at TEAMtalk broke the story of the imminent transfer and the medical being booked, Ben Jacobs followed up on Wednesday afternoon: ‘Barcelona reach an agreement in principle with Newcastle to sign Anthony Gordon.

‘£70m plus bonuses. Barcelona have pencilled in a medical for this week and anticipate the deal is formalised quickly.

‘Bayern expected to lose out despite also agreeing terms with Gordon. Liverpool never made a move despite historical interest.’

Seventeen goals and five assists in all competitions for a team finishing 12th in the Premier League looks like a more than serviceable return, but 10 of those came in the Champions League against some very welcoming opponents: four against a truly awful Qarabag team; two vs Union Berlin, who finished 12th in the Bundesliga; one against a Bayer Leverkusen side gutted of their talent in the summer; one in each of Newcastle’s very comfortable 3-0 home wins over Benfica and PSV Eindhoven.

Gordon’s only proper Champions League goal arguably came against Barcelona in the 2-1 defeat which saw Rashford score a brilliant brace to break Geordie hearts, and even that was a late consolation.

So again, we ask ourselves ‘why?’, while enjoying the prospect of a move which could be hugely beneficial for England.

Firstly, playing with outstanding footballers can only be a good thing and no disrespect to Anthony Elanga, Harvey Barnes and Jacob Murphy, but they ain’t Lamine Yamal or Raphinha.

There’s also a slim possibility of him playing alongside Rashford, forming a relationship which would bode well for England, particularly if Gordon is set to play as Barcelona’s No.9, as feels reasonably likely given the Catalans are famously cash-strapped and are still haggling over Rashford’s £26m fee with Manchester United.

The Barcelona bosses are supposedly adamant they will still be in the market for a new striker after completing the deal for Gordon, and maybe Rashford, but where’s this extra £100m for Julian Alvarez suddenly coming from?

A similarly profitable bond could have been forged with Harry Kane at Bayern Munich but we a) held out very little hope of Gordon forcing his way into that team ahead of Diaz, and b) playing as a No.9 for Barcelona offers the possibility of a Kane succession plan falling into the lap of Thomas Tuchel that the Three Lions boss will be craving sooner or later.

Gordon joining as Barcelona’s striker would raises serious concerns over the cognitive abilities of club chiefs who believe a winger with 71 goals in 304 appearances is equipped to replace a striker in the Robert Lewandowski mould of 629 goals in 869 games. But then seeing him as a significant upgrade on Rashford capable of pushing Raphinha for a starting spot is also bewildering. None of it makes a great deal of sense.

We may never quite get the Anthony Gordon hype, but also accept that there’s a perfectly decent chance of us being wrong and the massive football clubs that want to sign him being right. We hope, for England’s sake, we’re soon back on these pages chomping on healthy servings of humble pie.