Newcastle United’s Anthony Gordon was mismanaged at Everton and should have been playing ahead of Theo Walcott - says the player himself
A former Everton star reckons Newcastle United’s Anthony Gordon was mismanaged at Goodison Park and should have been picked in the side ahead of himself.
Scouser Gordon departed the Blues in acrimonious circumstances on January 29, 2023, in a £45million move to the Magpies when his departure was met with a terse 59-word statement from the club he’d been with since he was 11, which did not contain a thank you or good luck message.
The winger, who made 78 appearances for Everton, scoring seven goals, has since gone on to be capped 16 times for England, netting twice at international level to date, but another former precocious Three Lions talent believes he should have been turning out more regularly for the Blues from an early age.
Theo Walcott, who became England’s youngest-ever player aged 17 years and 75 days almost two decades ago on May 30, 2006, joined Everton from Arsenal for in a deal worth more than £20m on January 17, 2018.
But he admits he thinks Gordon, who could face his former side at St James’ Park on Saturday, deserved to be getting a game ahead of him.
The 36-year-old, who retired from playing in 2023, told Amazon Prime: “To be honest, he probably should have played ahead of me when I joined the club and I noticed this young man coming through and I just thought, he’s got just outrageous pace.
“But what I felt was he was kind of restricted and the way he was managed wasn’t right probably at the time. He kind of started to unleash and play with a bit more freedom, play with that energy.
“What I really like about him, he can just adapt anywhere on that front line. I think now you’re starting to see, he’s trying to mould him into the nine because they’ve not been able to replace that number nine right now.
“However, he’s always talented, always wanted to listen to the experienced players, even take in from the younger players. But he was an inspiration as well for the younger players thinking, no, we can be in this Everton team.
“So, for me, he’s got better and better. Yes, he has struggled in the Premier League, I get that. However, there’s moments, but we want more.”
Gordon has only scored three goals in 21 Premier League appearances so far this season but his tally of 10 in 10 games in the Champions League is bettered only by Real Madrid superstar Kylian Mbappe (13 in 8).
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