Yesterday, it was reported that Chelsea are interested in signing Newcastle United winger Anthony Gordon.
Firstly, I don’t think he would be cheap at all, so I’m really not sure we will get him anyway. However, it’s worth discussing.
As you will know, Gordon has been on Chelsea’s radar for a while, we only recently reported our interest on this site just a couple of weeks back – which has now been confirmed elsewhere. It was actually Todd Boehly who wanted to bring Gordon in when he was at Everton, but that never transpired. The interest is still very much there.
Newcastle do like some of our players, which could be important down the line if Chelsea do try and sign a Gordon, or a Nick Woltemade, who they are also interested in, or another name at Toon who they like.
But, is Gordon the kind of big name that will be enough to convince players like Enzo Fernandez and Cole Palmer that we are ‘showing ambition’ in the market this summer?
Sure, he ticks the Premier League experience boxes, without a doubt. At 25-years-old, he also comes with some decent experience and has a good mentality and attitude. His work rate is high, and he’s a good player to have in any squad really. We absolutely need all the above in this squad. He upgrades most of our wingers, for sure.
But is he a needle mover? Absolutely not. Is a difference maker? Sometimes, but not always. Is he a player that will make the likes of Enzo go ‘wow, I’m staying here if we are signing players like that’? Nope. Is he a player who would have been put to the likes of Reece James and Moises Caicedo when signing their new deals saying ‘this is the calibre of signing we will bring in’? I can’t see it, no.
Like I say, Gordon does offer a lot, but he’s also very inconsistent. Haven’t we got enough inconsistent players already? We need wingers with top dribbling skills who can beat two defenders in an instant. Gordon is quick, yes, he can be direct too, but I don’t see him as a skilful dribbler who will be beating players for fun. He’s not a world beater, is he? Let’s be honest. He’d be quite an underwhelming signing in my opinion, and in many others in this community as well…
I asked the SPTC community yesterday, transfer fee aside, would you take Anthony Gordon as our only new winger signing this summer?
- 30% took the middle ground
- 23% said not really, no
- 20% said, I think so, yes
- 19% said yes, for sure
- 8% said absolutely not
As you can see, it’s very split, but in general, we are unconvinced. The type of signings we need are the ones who will sway these polls to the point of a positive majority wanting it to happen. That’s when we know we are signing a top player. For me, Gordon is not that guy, and these poll results prove that.
I want to maintain, I do think he’s decent, not saying he’s a bad player at all. But he’s not really the signing that they have been promising and briefing in the media for the last three weeks as showing our ambition, is he? Let’s be honest here.
