Barcelona have finally unveiled Anthony Gordon as their player, confirming his £70 million arrival from Newcastle United with a contract until 2031. The 25-year-old winger was photographed inside the Nou Camp after a series of delays that saw the presentation ceremony pushed back from 12:30pm, with no sign of it starting by 8pm. Eventually, his arrival was confirmed in a social media post, alongside the tagline 'catch him if you can'.
Transfer Details and Contract
Gordon, who is also in England's World Cup squad for the summer, passed his medical and was set to be revealed as a Barcelona player before being made to wait a few more hours for the news to be announced. The LaLiga champions repeatedly pushed back his presentation due to minor paperwork issues. Sporting director Deco met with Gordon's representatives on Monday, and on Wednesday it emerged that the LaLiga champions had agreed a £70m deal that includes bonuses and a future percentage of any sale for the Magpies.
The winger arrived in Spain on Thursday afternoon and has since signed a five-year contract at the club. Following his presentation at the Nou Camp, Gordon will join up with his England teammates for the Three Lions' pre-World Cup training camp in Florida.
Interest from Other Clubs
Barcelona have beaten out tough competition to secure the sought-after forward's signature, with Bayern Munich and Liverpool both having shown strong interest in the player. Gordon's camp had spoken to both Barcelona and Bayern, and the framework of personal terms with the latter had been in place for several weeks. However, the Bundesliga club would not go beyond their £60m valuation. Meanwhile, Liverpool will have to turn their sights elsewhere, after they learned that Gordon preferred a move to Barcelona over a switch to Anfield.
Gordon came close to joining Liverpool two years ago, with a medical set up in Germany while he was on international duty at Euro 2024, only for Newcastle to pull the plug on the deal as they sold Elliot Anderson to Nottingham Forest instead.
Financial Implications
Everton have a sell-on clause that will see them receive 15 per cent of the profit after they sold Gordon to Newcastle for £45m in 2023. The England winger finished the season as Newcastle's top scorer with 18 goals but failed to feature in the final six games of the campaign amid speculation over his future. Magpies manager Eddie Howe previously admitted that the uncertainty surrounding Gordon was keeping him out of the team toward the end of the season.
This is the second most expensive sale in Newcastle's history, after the British record £125m fee they received from Liverpool for Alexander Isak last summer.
Impact on Marcus Rashford
Gordon's arrival in Catalonia cast further doubt over the future of Marcus Rashford, who has impressed on loan from Manchester United. The only apparent obstacle to the LaLiga champions signing Rashford permanently has been financial, so it has been deemed a surprise to see them make a much larger outlay on Gordon. It is understood that despite the signing of Gordon, Barcelona still intend to discuss a deal for Rashford with United this week, but their objective is to secure another loan rather than the permanent deal that the Red Devils seek. Hansi Flick's side have until June 15 to trigger a clause to buy the England forward for £26m.
