Gordon's future remains up in the air this summer amid interest from Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Liverpool
Anthony Gordon of Newcastle United
Newcastle United's Anthony Gordon(Image: CameraSport via Getty Images)
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For weeks now, it has felt that the direction of travel is pointing to Anthony Gordon leaving Newcastle United in the summer transfer window. It has not been a question of if, but when, where and how much money they will receive for his departure.
Bayern Munich had been seen as the frontrunners for his signature up until now, with the German champions making Gordon their priority signing as he can play across the front three.
But while they were confident they had agreed the framework of a deal with the player they, at present, remain unwilling to meet Newcastle's asking price of around £70-75million.
So today, Barcelona stole the edge in the Gordon race and now the feeling is the 25-year-old is prioritising a move to the Camp Nou this summer, with reports emerging the Spanish champions have reached a 'total agreement' with the Newcastle star over personal terms.
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The Spanish champions are keen to sign him but, again, the price has to make sense for Newcastle and the Blaugrana are currently below Newcastle's valuation. The onus is on them now to make a breakthrough in club to club talks.
Gordon wanting a move to Catalonia has changed the goalposts in terms of his most likely destination but, until a club makes an offer deemed acceptable to Newcastle, who have nurtured and developed the player for the last three-and-a-half years after a £45million move from Everton, it means very little in terms of progressing the transfer.
Quietly, Newcastle would prefer to sell Gordon abroad rather than to a direct Premier League rival but it also remains true that a Premier League side probably has the means to outbid a foreign rival.
So Liverpool's emergence as a possible Gordon landing spot today also felt like an interesting development, even if it is thought the player's preference is to move abroad.
Newcastle want the deal done quickly, albeit on their terms, and do not want a repeat of the Alexander Isak saga, where his long protracted transfer saga stretched until deadline day and left the Magpies hamstrung.
Ideally, they want a deal done before the World Cup starts on Thursday, June 11, but to avoid any upheaval and potential stumbling blocks any move would ideally be done even earlier than that.
Gordon is part of England's World Cup squad with Thomas Tuchel's players set to meet up on Monday, June 1, at their prep camp in Palm Beach, Florida, where they will take in two warm-up fixtures against New Zealand and Costa Rica before heading to their permanent base for the tournament in Kansas City.
Given the logistics of Gordon being in America, it would make things a lot smoother if a potential deal can be thrashed out prior to then, although that does not leave much time for things to be concluded.
Either way, it feels like there are two clear dates for Newcastle to have some clarity over what is happening so they can prepare for a post-Gordon future.