Anthony Gordon’s £69million move from Newcastle to Barcelona was completed on Friday evening after a three-and-a-half year association with the club. Simon Jordan’s point is that the fee is not the biggest issue. Newcastle sold him abroad rather than to a direct Premier League rival and secured a profit, which gives them time to find a replacement.
Why Jordan thinks the money matters more than the sale
Jordan said: "For Newcastle, it's what they do with the money. If they upgrade him, because I think he's all right. I'm amazed that Barcelona think of him that highly - but fair play to him. He keeps on rising to the level. I think Newcastle fans were talking about the fact he reserved his best performances for European games, rather than the consistency of the league. But Newcastle got £70million. How they deploy it might be another question."
That is the part Newcastle have to get right. They finished 11th in the Premier League with 49 points from 37 matches, scoring 53 and conceding 53. Those numbers do not scream a squad that can simply cash in and move on without a plan. If Anthony Gordon is leaving, the replacement has to make the attack better, not just maintain it.
Jordan also said Gordon should be applauded for speaking Spanish at his Barcelona unveiling. "I don't understand what the question was about," he said. "I think if a foreign player came over here and started speaking English, no one would say, why did you decide to speak English?" He added: "It's quite unusual. First of all, it's not Spanish, it's Catalan that they speak."
The language point is the lighter part of the story. The football part is bigger. Gordon joined Newcastle from Everton in January 2023, and now the club has a clear chance to reshape the squad with a profit from a sale abroad. The interesting bit is not the exit itself. It is whether Newcastle turn that money into a stronger side before the window shuts.
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