‘He will not be staying in Catalonia for too long…‘ – Graeme Souness tears into new €80m Barcelona signing | OneFootball

The ongoing FIFA World Cup has seen several FC Barcelona players progress with their respective countries to the knockout stages. One such player who has managed to progress to the next round is Anthony Gordon, but his recent performances for England have not exactly been met with a lot of positivity.

Having been acquired this summer from Newcastle United, Gordon is Barça’s only major signing so far in this window. However, his performances for England have not exactly pleased Scottish pundit Graeme Souness, who could not help but tear into the Catalan club’s big summer acquisition.

As stated by him in an article for ‘The Telegraph’, Souness believes that Barcelona will not exactly be thrilled by his performances either:

“It is absolutely fair to say they will have watched their new £70m (equivalent to around 80 million) winger Anthony Gordon in England’s opening group games and wondered what they have bought.”

He went even further and stated that the player would not be staying too long in Catalonia if he consistently delivers performances like the ones he delivered against Croatia and Ghana:

“If Gordon turns up in Barcelona and plays as conservatively as he did against Croatia and Ghana, then he will not be staying in Catalonia for too long.“

In fact, to further prove his point, he stated that the template for a proper Barça winger is Lamine Yamal, and the way that he is impressing for Spain should be an indication for Gordon and what will be expected of him once he arrives in Catalonia:

“Lamine Yamal is the template for a Barcelona winger. We all saw what he did against Saudi Arabia in their second game, taking his men on and attacking the back post to get himself a goal. You are kidding yourself if you don’t think everyone around Barcelona, from fans to the media to the players, isn’t watching and saying: “If Yamal is doing that, what is Gordon doing?”

Definitely not an easy pill to swallow for any player, but it seems clear that his level so far has not been impressing everyone who is following the World Cup this year. While it is not easy to judge whether or not Souness is being too harsh, he is completely right about the expectations at Barcelona and how it is always a challenge for any player to live up to them.