Anthony Gordon (inset) and Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe.placeholder image
Anthony Gordon (inset) and Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe. | Getty Images
Eddie Howe issued a spicy response to a Newcastle United reporter when asked about speculation surrounding his players - including Anthony Gordon.
Eddie Howe has fired back at the latest suggestions that Anthony Gordon could leave Newcastle United this summer.
A bombshell report this morning claimed the Magpies may offload if his price tag - touted as £75million - is met. Arsenal and Liverpool have been linked with Gordon throughout the campaign.
Newcastle have maintained since the Saudi-backed takeover that they wish to keep their prized assets. However, last summer’s Alexander Isak saga derailed that overarching message, with Sandro Tonali and Tino Livramento also the subject of speculation.
Eddie Howe’s spicy response to Newcastle United reporter
When asked about why there is a constant rumour mill surrounding his players, Howe said: “You tell me. I was hoping that you'd answer it because it's your industry that's creating those stories. As I said, I am slightly secluded from it to a degree. If you don't read it, you don't know who's being linked with who.
“Isn't it just part of modern-day football that everyone's linked with move these days? Not just Newcastle players, but a lot of other clubs potentially have the same issues. I don't know. I think it's irrelevant really.
“It's how the players take to that. If the players absorb it and it affects them, then of course that's a negative. But I think they will become robust enough to ignore it and concentrate on playing.
“These things only come into focus when windows are open. Or that's for me when the player should be, if at all, thinking about their futures. Because in the meantime, everything they do in between affects their future. All they can do is play at their best level. And that's what I'd encourage them to do.”
Eddie Howe on Anthony Gordon rumours
On the Gordon links specifically, Howe backed his player to focus on a crucial run-in for the Magpies. It was at this point that Newcastle’s press officer interrupted the press conference, referring to the winger’s quotes from last week.
“Only if you read it, I suppose,” Howe said on whether Gordon will be affected by the noise. “There's always, in this sort of age that we're at, there's always rumour and speculation. I don't see probably 90 per cent of it. I'm sure the players probably see more than I do. I think it comes to the territory of being a top player and playing at this level that there's going to be speculation.
“You've just got to put it out of your brain and you've got to focus on the football because, as we know with our schedule, there's so many games, there's no time for distractions. We have to be fully focused on each match.
“I'm not sure there's a lot I can do about that. I think I've not seen the story, so it's news to me. But we're mid-season. We're in the middle of some of the biggest games of his career, so he's got no time to look left or right.
“He's got to be fully focused on straight ahead and the next game and trying to be as good as he can be. I've been really impressed with him the last few weeks. He's been in a good place, playing in a central position. He's done really well and we want him to continue that good form.”
What Anthony Gordon actually said
“It’s the same old, same old,” Gordon told reporters last week. “I haven’t heard anything, they might want to tell me before they tell you (the media). I have gone through enough transfer stuff now to know that it is all a load of rubbish.
“I am focused on me and focused on the team, I am focused on right now. You look too far in the future and you start to underperform. And believe me I have done that (before) and I am not going to do that now.”
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