Anthony Gordon made his first appearance since leaving Newcastle United for Barcelona.
Gordon completed his £69million move to Barcelona less than a week after the 2025-26 campaign had ended.
The 25-year-old was widely expected to join Bayern Munich before the La Liga giants swooped in to finalise the deal in a matter of days.
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Anthony Gordon thanks Newcastle United over Barcelona transfer
Gordon admits he is “really grateful” to have his future sorted after being hugely affected by his failed move to Liverpool during Euro 2024.
A deal had been lined up for Gordon to join his boyhood club as the Magpies battled to comply with Premier League Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSR), however they ended up selling Elliot Anderson and Yankuba Minteh to Nottingham Forest and Brighton & Hove Albion, respectively, instead.
“It’s an unbelievable scenario,” Gordon told ITV. “I must thank Newcastle and Barcelona because they were both unbelievable with me. Both worked on my behalf and really looked after me through the process to get it done.
“You were at the Euros last time with me and I was going through the other transfer stuff, it was really difficult and I couldn’t really shake it, so I must thank both clubs. I’m really grateful that’s done.”
Gordon added: “Yeah, it feels good. It’s not bad! Really happy, it’s been an amazing couple of weeks. To be a Barcelona player was the dream as a little kid, so now I’ve got to go on and win everything with them.
“It came from quite late but once I knew it was Barcelona, they are the biggest club on the planet in my opinion, so there was never any doubt in my mind.”
Anthony Gordon admits to ‘difficult’ couple of months
In the build-up to Gordon’s expected departure, the winger didn’t feature in any of Newcastle’s remaining six Premier League matches.
Gordon hadn’t featured since April 12 before playing the second half of England’s 1-0 friendly win against New Zealand on Sunday in a baking hot Tampa Bay.
“It was tough, cant lie to you,” Gordon said. “I’d love to give you an easy answer but it was really difficult. Thoroughly enjoyed it, it was a good test. It’s good to be back with the team and just getting back in that rhythm and chemistry with the players - but it was hot.
It’s difficult for a player. I think if you have one or two days off, it’s really hard to get back into the swing of things, so to have four, five or six weeks off, I done better than I thought to be honest.
It was a good decision to give everyone that platform to boost their fitness up, get used to the heat and get used to the pitches because as much as it’s hot, the pitches make a big difference.
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