Barcelona in talks with Newcastle to sign Gordon
Gordon scored 17 goals for Newcastle United in all competitions this season
Barcelona have joined Bayern Munich in the race to sign Newcastle United forward Anthony Gordon.
The La Liga champions hold an interest in the England international and are in talks with Newcastle over a potential deal.
Although Barca have had financial restrictions in recent years, the club are understood to have the ability to spend whatever is generated from player sales.
Bayern Munich have also held formal discussions with Newcastle, but BBC Sport previously reported there was a gap in valuation between the two clubs.
Newcastle chief executive David Hopkinson made it clear they will only sell players on “our terms” in March.
The club are in a relatively strong position to command a minimum of £70m for Gordon, whose contract does not expire until 2030.
Newcastle will ultimately need to trade to rebuild this summer, particularly after a disappointing 12th-place finish in the Premier League.
Gordon, who has previously played for Everton, looks the likeliest of Newcastle’s key players to depart and the club’s top-scorer was even left on the bench for the final four games of the campaign because head coach Eddie Howe had an eye on the future.
Supporters in the away end briefly sang Gordon’s name following the 2-0 defeat at Fulham on the final day in what felt like a farewell.
Howe was asked afterwards if the 25-year-old had played his last game for the club.
“I don’t know, as I said in the build up to the game,” he said. “You can never predict what’s going to happen.
“He obviously goes to the World Cup now so we wish him well.”
Barcelona also hold an interest in Atletico Madrid forward Julian Alvarez and Chelsea striker Joao Pedro.
Hansi Flick’s side have the option of signing Marcus Rashford, Gordon’s international team-mate, on a permanent basis for £26m following his loan from Manchester United.
There is the very real prospect that Newcastle could end up losing their top-scorer for the second summer running.
So, have lessons been learned from the damaging Alexander Isak saga?
Newcastle initially held firm after Isak pushed to join Liverpool but the club ultimately buckled and sold the striker for a British-record £125m on deadline day.
In contrast to last summer, though, when Newcastle operated without an executive structure, the club now have a chief executive, Hopkinson, and sporting director, Ross Wilson, firmly in place.
The absence of a sporting director in particular was felt when it came to handling the Isak situation and dealing with agents.
There has since been a shift in tone and approach.
Former chief executive Darren Eales previously said it would be “crazy” for Newcastle to sell their best players but Hopkinson has struck a slightly different note.
The Canadian said last March the club would look to “maximise the opportunity” and extract the best possible price if individuals were to move on this summer.
So, rather than Newcastle looking over their shoulder, the prospect of Bayern and Barcelona going head to head will be viewed as a potential opportunity to secure a substantial sum to reinvest and refresh a floundering side.
In truth, it has felt like the club have been preparing for Gordon’s potential departure for a while now.
Although Gordon has continued to train with his team-mates – his attitude has been praised by head coach Howe – he has had to make do with a place on the bench in recent weeks.
Youngsters Sean Neave and Alex Murphy even came on ahead of the unused substitute against Fulham on the final day, which was rather telling.
