Anthony Gordon has officially begun his Barcelona career after completing his big-money move from Newcastle United. The winger sealed his switch to Catalonia ahead of the World Cup, with Barcelona opting not to take up their option to sign Marcus Rashford following his season-long loan. Newcastle agreed a deal worth £69.3m, which will need to be reinvested after a string of other high-profile departures, plus head coach Eddie Howe.
First Training Session
Following his exertions at the World Cup, where he was one of England's best players, Gordon has only just started training at Barcelona. He was joined by Spain World Cup winners Eric Garcia and Joan Garcia, who were also put through their paces at the La Liga giants' training base.
The club's media team filmed the session. At the end, Gordon was asked, in English, how it had gone, to which he replied: "Very good, very warm." Eric Garcia was then asked for his verdict on his new team-mate's performance. Smiling, he said: "Very good."
Upcoming Fixtures
Barcelona kick off the defence of their La Liga title at Elche on Sunday, August 23. Before then, they face two more pre-season games against Basel and Al Ahly.
Speaking Spanish
Upon his unveiling as a Barcelona player, Gordon surprised the media and fans by speaking in fluent Spanish. The 25-year-old said he had conversed with the Spanish physio at Newcastle, but had just six lessons ahead of his Barcelona move. He told the FA's Lion's Den show during the World Cup: "I've had six lessons. I've had nine now, since being on camp with England."
"It's difficult. People always see the end results and they assume it's easy because obviously when you practice a little bit it becomes a lot easier. But it's really difficult because you're learning a completely new language. You're trying to translate everything you're thinking in English to Spanish. So it's really hard. I wouldn't say I am intellectually smart. As I said in the press conference, I always kind of spoke a little bit of Spanish with my Spanish physio in Newcastle for that reason."
