“We kid ourselves that we play football to win. We want to win of course, but we want to see who we can become.”
When Anthony Gordon speaks, it’s worth listening to. He’s a footballer that thinks differently, feels deeply and articulates himself thoughtfully.
“I’ve always been very intrigued mentally to see who I could become,” Gordon told British media at England’s Kansas base this week. “I am from a very poor area, a very poor background, just a normal family and I have obviously made the journey to this level.”
This is a player who has openly admitted that Euro 2024 was “horrendous” for him “mentally” – that being in the squad but not playing was a “waste of a summer”.
Gordon is expected to start against Norway on Saturday night in England’s quarter-final with his World Cup building in momentum from two assists as a substitute against DR Congo followed by a typically tireless display against Mexico where he earned the penalty for Harry Kane to win the game.
Gordon will start 2026-27 as a Barcelona player – continuing his rise from a teenager at Everton to the pinnacle of the game.
Here, Liverpool Echo’s Everton reporter Joe Thomas and The Chronicle’s chief Newcastle writer Lee Ryder profile Gordon’s rise – and what has made the 25-year-old such a compelling interviewee.
‘He demanded an explanation for being dropped’
Joe Thomas, Liverpool Echo Everton reporter:
Brazil would have been a fitting opponent for Anthony Gordon in this weekend’s World Cup quarter-finals.
It was manager Carlo Ancelotti who gave the winger his Premier League debut, aged 18, against West Ham United back in 2020. He then started Gordon later that year in a Merseyside derby, giving the then-19-year-old another taste of stardom.
And it was one of Ancelotti’s assistants at Brazil, Paul Clement, who nurtured Gordon through his emergence as a key player at Goodison Park under Frank Lampard.
Ancelotti and Lampard, two of the biggest names in football, both saw something special in the youngster from Kirkdale. Skinny but lightning quick, the only obstacle ever likely to get in his way was his own confidence, which ebbed and flowed in the period between his first senior appearance, in a Europa League game in Cyprus at the age of 16, and his breakthrough under Ancelotti.
“He is young but showing good personality and character, when he plays from the start or goes on as a substitute,” Ancelotti said in 2020. “I have a lot of confidence in him. He is a player for now and for the future.
“He just needs to play to increase his confidence. He has quality. He can improve his knowledge but he is ready to play in the Premier League without a problem.”
He was lucky in the mentors he had at Everton’s Finch Farm training ground, with Seamus Coleman and Leighton Baines each keen to help him progress. They helped him understand the demands on a modern footballer and shaped a player whose commitment was never in question.
Anthony Gordon and Jude Bellingham celebrate after Gordon wins England’s penalty vs Mexico(Image: 2024 Soccrates Images B.V.)
The attribute that stood out in Gordon’s performance against Mexico, his best in an England shirt, was his intensity. Neither the atmosphere, the occasion nor the altitude slowed him down at the Azteca. That drive was consistent with his development as a player, both physically and psychologically.
As he rose through the academy ranks it was that intensity that those around him noted most. It was not just what he could do – and keep on doing – on the pitch. It was his appetite to learn off it.
Gordon is intensely curious about the world, about people and always wants answers. He wanted to improve and he wanted to understand how best to do it. That translated to reading – after Ancelotti gave him his debut he picked up Dr Steve Peters’ book The Chimp Paradox, which focuses on mind management – to demanding answers over his opportunities, or lack of them: When he was left out of the first team squad at the start of the following season he sought Ancelotti directly to understand why, something the former Real Madrid boss loved.
“I didn’t explain to him — but he wanted an explanation,” the then-Everton manager said at the time. “I love that he asked the question because this means that he is really interested in doing a proper job.”
Gordon was told he represented the future of Everton at that point, though he ended the campaign on loan to Preston to taste regular senior football.
‘More of a leader’
It was a grounding that came in handy the following year when, after a torrid run under Rafa Benitez, Ancelotti’s replacement, Gordon became one of the breakout heroes of Everton’s miraculous escape from relegation under Lampard.
In a side decimated by injuries, Gordon’s ability to burst from his own box to carry the ball into opposition territory and win pressure-relieving fouls was crucial. His goal against Manchester United, the winner in a home tie that came with Everton’s fate in the balance, was a crowning moment for a local hero who, at 21, was becoming a talisman.
“I’ve been really impressed,” Lampard said about Gordon in May 2022. “He’s becoming more of a man, more of a leader with every game, with every day. His dedication and talent is huge. His feeling for the club, to bring that across at such a young age is something pretty special. I love working with him, love him as a player. There are things he wants to improve and he can improve and that’s absolutely normal in terms of development. But what he’s doing for us at the minute, he’s an absolutely huge player.”
Lampard, who as a manager has played a guiding hand in the emergence of starlets such as Mason Mount, Reece James and Tammy Abraham, loved Gordon and ended the following summer desperately fighting to keep him.
Chelsea led the way and with the world watching, Gordon produced a stunning goal at Brentford to further whet appetites at Stamford Bridge.
That season descended into chaos for Everton, though.
A relatively positive start gave way to a miserable week of three defeats, including two within days of each other at Bournemouth in the Carabao Cup then the Premier League, leaving Lampard under pressure. The Qatar World Cup offered respite but the return to domestic action was marred by a home defeat to Wolves and it was soon clear Everton were facing another relegation battle.
A toxic exit from Everton
Anthony Gordon during his final season at Everton(Image: Matthew Ashton – AMA, Getty Images)
In January 2023, Gordon’s car was surrounded by angry Everton fans after a 20-minute appearance in a defeat against Southampton, with team-mate Yerry Mina confronting supporters as tempers frayed at Goodison.
“You f****** d***head. Eh, you f****** k***head. Gordon, what the f*** lad? Gordon, what the f*** lad?” one supporter was filmed shouting. Other supporters chanted “get out of our club” and “you’re not fit to wear the shirt”.
It was a toxic time, for reasons far beyond Gordon’s influence or control, as Everton’s leadership came under increasing scrutiny as another relegation fight loomed. While that night saw some of the players swept up in the wider problems of the club, the experience had a sobering impact on him.
As the club was engulfed in chaos on and off the pitch, Gordon left in acrimonious circumstances. His transfer request that month went down badly with those supporters who had backed him, while the club made their disappointment clear with a terse, 59-word statement that included no wishes of good luck for a player who had been with them since the age of 11.
That hurt Gordon, who had been with the club since he was 11, and believed he deserved credit for his efforts to help save the club from relegation the previous season.
Neither the transfer request nor his final act of consequence in an Everton shirt – a silly push to concede the free-kick from which James Ward-Prowse scored Southampton’s winner on that terrible January afternoon at Goodison – helped his reputation among Everton supporters.
Nor did his actions in the games that followed.
Later that season he posed with his new Newcastle teammates after they thrashed Everton at home in a result that made relegation start to feel inevitable. In Everton’s last season at Goodison he stepped up to take a penalty for the Magpies in front of the famous Gwladys Street end – only for his effort to be saved by Jordan Pickford, to the delight of Everton supporters – and the club, which later mocked him on social media.
Anthony Gordon misses a penalty or Newcastle back at his old club Everton. He hasn’t missed a spot-kick since(Image: PA)
Gordon has never missed a penalty for club or country since, and has an elite 94% conversion record – 17 from 18.
As is often the case, his departure was more complicated than it initially appeared. Everton were deep in financial trouble – an issue that was yet to come to light when he left – and desperately needed his £40m transfer fee. Had the club not had that, the second of their two breaches of financial rules would have been more severe – potentially leading to a much greater points deduction.
Anthony Gordon is fouled by Raul Rangel of Mexico in the box to win England’s penalty v Mexico(Image: Getty)
The club has also continued to benefit from his progress since. The 15% sell-on clause inserted into his sale meant the Blues received a chunk of Newcastle’s profit from his sale to Barcelona, to the tune of around £3.5m.
So while the relationship may have soured, Everton have continued to benefit from his success, while Finch Farm can still take great pride in having produced a star.
For all the frustration over how his relationship with Everton has deteriorated, on a personal level I have a lot of time for Gordon given what I saw of him in the better days.
I’ve watched him at training camps from Washington DC to Sydney where he has been the last player left signing autographs at fan events. In summer 2022, Everton were humbled at Minnesota United in a 5-1 thrashing that sent supporters into panic and the club into lockdown.
As everyone refused to speak to the Echo, Gordon stopped and gave me time. It was not just tokenistic either, he moved the conversation on to the performance and took accountability as a senior player.
He once loaded up trolleys with food at Asda in Bootle and then drove it to Everton in the Community’s market foodbank to donate to the charity and the people who rely on it.
I was with him as he distributed it and he seemed at home – which was natural because they were the streets he had grown up in.
Transfer talk takes its toll
Lee Ryder, Chronicle’s chief Newcastle writer
When Anthony Gordon arrived from Everton after reportedly forcing a move from Merseyside, my first instinct was that he was a sparky Scouser who could spell trouble for the Magpies.
However, it just goes to show you should wait before you make a judgment, as Gordon proved to be a deeper thinker, keen learner and excellent trainer, determined to stay out of the headlines for the wrong reasons.
The last time I spoke to Anthony Gordon was February this year in Baku shortly after he’d netted four goals in a 6-1 win over Qarabag.
After being linked with Liverpool and Arsenal in the spring, Gordon tried to extinguish talk of him quitting Newcastle when asked a direct question in a one-on-one interview.
The Scouser protested his innocence and said: “About me? I haven’t seen them. What are they saying?”
“It’s the same old, same old. I think they just pick names out of a hat. I haven’t heard anything; they might want to tell me before they tell you (the media).”
But in the background, things were brewing for Gordon and Newcastle as pressure built on summer sales caused by the threat of SCR and financial issues.
Just one round later in the Champions League, after Newcastle were hammered 8-3 on aggregate by Barcelona, I received a phone call on the train back from the airport advising me that it would be the beginning of the end for Gordon at Newcastle last March.
That well-placed source was spot on.
Anthony Gordon playing for Newcastle(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
Getting interviews with Gordon was tough at first, and in the early post-takeover era at Newcastle, it was obvious that big-name and big-money players were under more pressure and scrutiny, and less likely to talk to people they didn’t know.
But he became more friendly with me as his time on Tyneside unfolded.
Putting Baku aside, and 10 months before his move to Barcelona, Gordon has been brutally open and honest with me about his own position.
Just one year earlier, he had been linked with Liverpool and a deal, sparked by PSR fears and the urgency to sell a star, was obvious.
In the end Newcastle sold his best mate Elliot Anderson to Nottingham Forest for £35m and scraped past any PSR punishment from the Premier League.
Gordon stayed and last summer it was clear he was focused on life in black and white again.
As the Alexander Isak storm brewed, Gordon, speaking from Seoul, told Chronicle Live:
“What I can say is that it’s been an absolute pleasure to be out of the transfer speculation for a summer!
“It’s the first time in about three years! It’s been so easy, so mentally refreshing.”
When it was put to Gordon that transfer speculation can quickly change in the media, Gordon, who spent summer 2022 linked with Tottenham Hotspur when he was at Everton, joked: “No, no! Keep me out of it! The last three years have been quite mentally draining for me.
‘For Alex, I feel for him too. It’s difficult. People forget you’re a human being in that scenario. He will be going through a lot.
“The club is going through a lot. I hope everyone gets what they want in the end.”
He handled that difficult spell pretty well after the Liverpool transfer collapsed and went on to win the Carabao Cup with Newcastle, as his goals against Arsenal in the semi-finals got United to Wembley.
Ambition beyond Newcastle
There was a mixed reaction on Tyneside to Gordon’s £69.3million sale to Barcelona.
Some fans looked at it negatively like Gordon was jumping ship at the first sign of trouble, while others had an understanding that he was getting a dream move.
He will be perceived as a top player but also a star who felt he was destined for the very top.
Could Newcastle keep pace with those ambitions?
Probably not. A 12th place finish and no European football sealed his fate anyway as he headed to the World Cup as a Barca player.
Anthony Gordon left Newcastle for Barcelona(Image: Getty Images)
He left Newcastle with a classy statement and said: “Three and a half seasons have flown by, and it feels like I’ve been here all my life.
“I arrived as a young boy who had just left home and didn’t know what was to come, but from the very first day I knew I had come to the right place.
“I joined Newcastle because I felt my ambitions matched those of the club, the staff, and the players, and from my first session I knew this was the place I needed to be.
“To the fans, I arrived in very difficult circumstances, but you still believed in me from day one, and I was determined to prove you all right.
“From the moment I heard my song at Chelsea, I knew I had to give you all something to cheer for, and I hope you know I gave absolutely everything I had for you and for the club.
“Some of the nights we’ve had at SJP are unforgettable and created some of the best atmospheres I’ve ever witnessed.
“I hope you get the success you all deserve for the incredible commitment you show in supporting Newcastle, and it has been my pleasure to play in front of you, home and away.”
Just before Barcelona, Gordon was heavily linked with Bayern Munich and initially his agent played down talk that he was off to the Nou Camp.
But once the idea was put to Barca, they were prepared to go the extra mile for Gordon when Bayern didn’t.
And the rest is now history.
The Elliot Anderson friendship
Anthony Gordon became big pals with Elliot Anderson very early during his time on Tyneside.
They were two young stars of the future, and both had dreams of playing for England.
Gordon said then: “I’d say I’ve got three (best friends in football) – Curtis Jones, Tommy Doyle and Elliot Anderson, mixed bag there, some club and international.
“He’s a top player (Anderson), he’s done really well (at Newcastle), he’s just a young player, he’s just finding his feet within the games. He’s been top in training for a while – but he’s just finding his feet.”
Anderson, who hails from Whitley Bay, offered Gordon some local guidance and introduced him to a much more chilled area to hang out after training.
Away from the brighter lights of the Bigg Market and Quayside and just 10 miles down the Coast Road sits Whitley Bay, an at times sleepier area of North Tyneside with great seaviews and landmarks to enjoy.
But it was at Whitley Lodge Snooker Club just a five minute walk from the beach where Anderson and Gordon would unwind from training just a couple of years ago.
Here, they would mix with fans but in an environment where they were allowed space.
One local said: “The lads knew they could just turn up and play without much attention but were friendly and kind to anybody who wanted a selfie or an autograph.”
When Anderson was sold to Forest, Gordon lost a good mate.
It was no surprise when Gordon staged an interview with Gary Neville on the Overlap walking down the promenade at Whitley Bay.
The pair then sat in the well-known Rendezvous Cafe on the seafront and spoke of his different approach to football.
Gordon said then: “My confidence comes from my preparation. I don’t know where it comes from, I wouldn’t say anyone round me is anything like that. I just love learning stuff, and throughout my years growing up, I’ve taken a liking to learning about psychology.
“There may be people who do the same thing as me, there may be loads who just haven’t spoken about it. Some footballers like to think less, just turn up and play and trust their instincts. I just love the mindset of getting myself in that place before I’m already there. I saw Mo Salah talk about it – that’s where I took even more interest, because I see him as an absolute machine and a winner. People like that, you’re not going to go too far wrong following what they do.”
Gordon puts the rise of his career so far down to his “mentality towards disappointment” and ability to repeatedly bounce back. Hopefully the next time we get an insight into Gordon’s deep thinking, it’s as a World Cup winner at the pinnacle of the sport.
