A busy summer is on the cards at St James' Park and Anthony Gordon's sale won't be the last
BARCELONA, SPAIN - MAY 29: Anthony Gordon during his presentation as a new player of FC Barcelona at Commercial Office on May 29, 2026 in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo By Javier Borrego/Europa Press via Getty Images)
(Image: Europa Press Sports, Europa Press via Getty Images)
View Image
Newcastle United are evolving on and off the pitch with Anthony Gordon's Toon exit a clear sign of the times at St James' Park - club insiders have warned.
The truth is, Eddie Howe did not want to sell the England international and wanted to add quality in and around him this summer, but there are no guarantees things won't get worse before they get better with Sandro Tonali and Tino Livramento attracting interest and having a price tag on their shoulders.
Tonali has interest from Man United and Man City, and Livramento is also on the FA Cup and Carabao Cup winners' wish-list.
None of this should come as a surprise; once it became clear that United would miss out on the Champions League and its massive revenues, Newcastle's owners knew sacrifices had to be made.
Get Chronicle Premium now for just £1HERE– exclusive news and features, our NUFC and Academy notebooks, plus an ad-lite experience
A club insider said: "The ambition is still here and new signings will be made but nobody has ever hidden from the fact we need to be better at trading and that means some players will go this summer too."
No sooner had Newcastle been dumped out of the Champions League than Chronicle Live was contacted by a third party suggesting that Gordon was about to close the page on his United story.
And so it proved, albeit after a struggle to get the narrative right behind the scenes as Gordon was first injured, then unused, before completing his £69.3m move to Barcelona.
Tellingly, Howe said on Friday night: "While we're disappointed to lose Anthony from our squad, we understand that this is a big opportunity for him."
His exit means that there are just a handful of survivors from the class of 2023 when Gordon signed, with only Bruno Guimaraes, Joelinton, Sven Botman, Dan Burn and Fabian Schar left from the starting XI that faced Man United at Wembley three years ago. Even from the 2025 Carabao Cup win against Liverpool, Newcastle have lost Alexander Isak, Kieran Trippier, unused sub that day Sean Longstaff and the suspended Gordon.
A summer shake-up will see a new right-back come in at St James' Park while Howe wants a goalkeeper, winger and possibly another central midfield man.
What happens next will be interesting, but it will be very different to last summer when Howe was left without a CEO or a sporting director and left to fend for himself.
A statement from Newcastle moments after Gordon's deal had gone through hinted at the transfer dynamics now, with the key players off the pitch in place as far as the boardroom is concerned.
Transfer chief Ross Wilson and Canadian CEO David Hopkinson will play a major part this summer on recruitment, and having been the driving force behind Lewis Miley and Sven Botman's extended contracts, they have work to do.
Will Howe still get the final say in terms of transfers? That's a good question, but Howe has always spoken of a collaboration when it comes to new faces.
Wilson said over the weekend: "There has been interest in Anthony from a number of Europe's leading clubs over a period of time, and the conversations involving the club, led by David Hopkinson and myself, as well as Anthony's representatives, have been conducted confidentially and with a great deal of professionalism on all sides."
Gordon has certainly left Newcastle through the front door compared to Isak's controversial decision to go on strike and force a £125m move to Liverpool 12 months ago.
But the Gordon sale has not been met with universal approval either, as fears of Howe's cup-winning squad being dismantled have also been evident on social media.