Anthony Gordon will be up against England teammate Trent Alexander-Arnold tonight, as Newcastle United face Liverpool at St James’ Park.
However, they could have been playing for the same team this season, and that is not because Newcastle United wanted to sign Trent Alexander-Arnold.
Anthony Gordon almost went the other way, at a time when Toon officials were desperately trying to comply with PSR. A points deduction was not an option for PIF, which meant Newcastle had to find a way.
That resulted in Newcastle offering Gordon to Liverpool, with a £75million move floated. The deal would have seen Joe Gomez move the other way for £45million, after the Reds said no to Jarrell Quansah leaving.
But Gomez was keen to join Newcastle, while the chance to play for Liverpool obviously appealed to Gordon. He was a fan growing up and his family still live in the area, while it would be a chance to play Champions League football again.
In that respect, it is no surprise that Gordon’s head was turned by Liverpool.
What Trent Alexander-Arnold sang when Anthony Gordon was in talks to sign for Liverpool
Anthony Gordon of Newcastle United runs ahead of Dominik Szoboszlai and Trent Alexander-Arnold of Liverpool during the Premier League match between...
Photo by Jan Kruger/Getty Images
While all of this was going on, Gordon was away with England. He was representing the Three Lions at Euro 2024 in Germany, on the back of his best season ever.
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Now the Daily Mail have provided details of what happened behind the scenes in the England camp when it looked like Gordon could leave Newcastle United to sign for Liverpool.
According to the Daily Mail, Gordon had confided in his England teammates while his future was up in the air, with a potential transfer becoming the ‘talk of the Three Lions camp’.
The Daily Mail add that Liverpool defender Trent Alexander-Arnold was signing ‘he’s coming home’ rather than ‘it’s coming home’, as talks continued over Gordon returning to Merseyside.
Anthony Gordon now set to face Trent Alexander-Arnold
Ultimately, the deal collapsed. Newcastle found a better way to comply with PSR. Yankuba Minteh and Elliot Anderson were sold to Brighton and Nottingham Forest respectively, while the Magpies were able to retain one of their most important players.
But it was a challenging summer for Gordon, whose transfer collapse coincided with him being constantly snubbed by Gareth Southgate. In truth, he has not been the same player since what happened back in June.
Now Newcastle United desperately need Gordon to get back to his best, starting at St James’ Park against Liverpool tonight.
Gordon is going to face the team he nearly signed for, and he could be directly up against one of the players he confided in over the summer. If Eddie Howe opts to play Gordon on the left, he will be in a battle with Alexander-Arnold. Given how their last two meetings have gone, the right-back might not be singing like he was out in Germany.
At St James’ Park last season, Gordon tormented Alexander-Arnold. He even got his first Toon goal.
Alexander-Arnold’s problems continued at Anfield, as Gordon got himself an assist in a 4-2 defeat for the Magpies.
Given what happened last season, Howe will be strongly pondering whether to play Gordon on the left or the right. The 23-year-old will hope it is the former, but that may depend on whether the Newcastle United manager thinks Lewis Hall needs Joelinton in front of him to help handle Mo Salah.
Had things gone differently, Gordon would be playing alongside Alexander-Arnold tonight. Fortunately for Toon fans, that is not the case, and tonight will hopefully end with Gordon making the Geordies sing rather than Liverpool.
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