· 22 October 2025, 18:00
Andros Townsend was a one that got away for Newcastle United, having signed in January 2016 and leaving at the end of that same season.
That was the year Newcastle got relegated to the Championship and Townsend took the option to leave the club to remain in the Premier League with Crystal Palace.
It was a shame as Townsend had been a bright spot in a dire season for Newcastle, but given the state of the club at the time, we can't really blame him.
Townsend went on to play for Everton after Crystal Palace, and there he'd come across a promising young forward by the name of Anthony Gordon.
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Anthony Gordon was unplayable last night
Andros Townsend says Anthony Gordon has developed massively at Newcastle
Speaking to Radio 5 Live's Football Daily Podcast, Townsend spoke about how far Gordon has come since then and how Everton probably thought they were getting the better end of the deal following his £45 million move.
"When I first joined Everton, he was a young lad and you could see he had quality.
“He had immense pace, obviously, but he didn’t really work hard enough.
“The modern-day winger needs to be the first line of the press, and he wasn’t doing that.
“Then it started clicking for him, he started getting in the team, he started getting joy, and the fans loved him.
“But even still, by the time Newcastle bought him for £50m, I think Everton fans were thinking they had the better end of the deal.
“Since then, however, he’s just put it all together.”
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Anthony Gordon needs to bring consistency back to his game
Gordon is now an England regular and showed last night that on his day, he can be nothing short of world-class.
Consistency is Gordon's biggest weakness right now, after we all thought he'd nailed it two seasons ago when he was outstanding in every game, but then last season he dropped off massively.
Anthony Gordon has said he feels better than ever this season, and last night we saw our first signs of what that may entail, but now he needs to keep it up.