Newcastle United latest news: Eddie Howe has responded to transfer speculation linking some of his key players with a move away from St James’ Park.
The Magpies host Gordon’s former club Everton on Saturday afternoon, just days after a report from The Sun claimed that the Magpies man will be a target for Arsenal during the summer window. Gordon has seen a resurgence in his Premier League
Speaking to the media on the eve of that clash with the Toffees, Howe was asked about reports linking the winger away from the club. He responded: “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 and who knows what's going to happen internationally with him in the summer as well. 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. I think he's been in a good place, playing in a central position. I think he's done really well and we want him to continue that good form.”
Earlier this month, Gordon was asked directly about reports linking him with a move away from St James’ Park. This was his response: “I have gone through enough transfer stuff now to know that it is all a load of rubbish.
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“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.”
Eddie Howe’s Newcastle United transfer claim
In the wake of those reports surrounding Gordon’s future at the club, Howe was also asked if he believes there was a campaign to ‘destabilise’ his players with a raft of Newcastle United’s key players being linked with a move away from the club in recent times. “I was hoping that you'd answer it, because it's your industry that's creating those stories,” Howe responded. “For me, 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 not just part of modern-day football that everyone's linked with moves 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.
“I think 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.
“I think these things only come into focus when windows are open. That's for me when the players 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.”
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