Curtis Jones and Anthony Gordon
Curtis Jones and Anthony Gordon
"Third kit, third season."
Those were the words of following the launch of new change strip this week.
You already get the feeling that the England international is itching to get back to work, to make his third full season at the club his best yet.
Gordon's second campaign at Newcastle was certainly one to remember as the Magpies ended a 70-year wait to win a major domestic trophy and qualified for the Champions League.
However, by the same token, those final months of the season did not necessarily pan out the way that Gordon would have hoped. Individually, at least.
There was the stupid red card against Brighton, in March, which led to the forward missing Newcastle's historic triumph at Wembley.
There was the untimely injury on international duty that ended up restricting Gordon to just three starts in the final months of the season.
There was the absence of a single top-flight goal involvement between February and May from the man who not only scored half of Newcastle's goals in the Carabao Cup semi-final triumph against Arsenal but who also played a key role in the Magpies bouncing back from their mid-season nadir at Brentford after registering either a goal or an assist in seven of his next eight games during a club-record equalling winning streak.
Those are the sorts of numbers Gordon is capable of and it is easy to forget the Scouser is still only 24. This is a player who was desperate to make an impression at the under-21 Euros only a couple of years ago following a testing start to his Newcastle career. To the point where Gordon put personal friendships aside as international team-mate Curtis Jones recalled.
"Before the game he was like, 'If you can assist me, it would be good' because I think he was joint top scorer," Jones said a few days ago while looking back on England's triumph against Spain in 2023.
"He needed one to win and just before he got subbed, I break with the ball and I can play him in. I go on my own, shoot with my left and miss. The 'keeper saves it and Ant was fuming.
"He then gets subbed so to see him get player of the tournament, that just settled down the whole thing. He's my brother so I'm proud of him for that."
Gordon did not look back. In fact, less than a week later, the forward returned to Newcastle early for pre-season training after opting against taking an extended break.
Gordon smashed his fitness test, which led to an impressed Eddie Howe predicting 'big things from him'. Do not be surprised if history repeats itself.
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