Anthony Gordon discussed Liverpool transfer with teammates before ruthless decision

After a breakthrough 2023/24 Premier League campaign with Newcastle, winger Anthony Gordon was likely disappointed to not feature more for Gareth Southgate's England side at the Euros.

The 23-year-old Englishmen spent much of June angling for a move to Liverpool , his boyhood club. According to the Telegraph , he told his England teammates he was keen on the move and the transfer was close.

Reports suggest Southgate was not impressed by this distraction. Although the decision to play Gordon a limited amount of minutes did entirely come down to the winger's conduct - England were stacked with Bukayo Saka, Eberechi Eze, Jarrod Bowen, Cole Plamer, Phil Foden, and others - it did factor in the manager's ruthless decision.

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Gordon came on for a single minute against Slovenia in the final group-stage game at Euro 2024. This came after a season where he ranked 11th in the Premier League with 21 goal involvements and sixth amongst non-strikers.

Liverpool was interested in signing the winger but never sent Newcastle a formal bid. Any move would likely have required center-back Jarrell Quansah or Joe Gomez to join the Magpies.

Newcastle spent the month of June in Profit and Sustainability (PSR) hell and needing to make significant moves to clear its short-term books. The club opted to sell Yankuba Minteh to Brighton for £33 million ($44 million) and Elliott Anderson to Nottingham Forest for £35 million ($47 million).

Gordon likely didn't want to angle out of Newcastle in a similar way he pushed for a move out of Everton in 2023 and remained steadfast in training.

He was a boyhood Liverpool fan and has talked highly of the club on multiple occasions. “Steven Gerrard was my football hero growing up,” Gordon told The Overlap in April . “Coming from Liverpool, he was like a God in Liverpool, and he was an unbelievable player.”

When speaking with Rio Ferdinand in January, Gordon admitted he watched Mohammed Salah a lot: "Numbers-wise, the positions he takes up, the runs in behind — he’s unbelievable. He’s probably the best player in the world for me because he has so much impact on the game."

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Gordon is off to a slow start with Newcastle so far this campaign. He's scored once in five games and his npgXG per 90 is down from 0.54 to 0.42.

He also faces stiffer competition in the squad, as 2023 signing Harvey Barnes is finally fit from a long-term injury and has three goals in four stats.

Barnes started on the right wing against Fulham last week while Gordon lined up in his customary position on the left. The two swapped positions and Barnes was dominant, arguably putting in a man-of-the-match display despite the Magpies' 3-1 defeat.