Anthony Gordon : Newcastle United in talks with Everton and compromise transfer fee set to seal deal

Eddie Howe was collared about Anthony Gordon on Tuesday night.

Newcastle having just won 1-0 at Southampton and the NUFC Head Coach asked how the talks on signing Anthony Gordon were going.

To nobody’s surprise, Eddie Howe not giving anything away as he responded with ‘Honestly, I have got no idea ,I have been preparing for this game, so I have got no idea, but I wouldn’t comment on individual players anyway…I have got no idea if we are got any closer to anything, but we are actively looking and I have (previously) said that, but as of tonight I have no update.”

What is clear, is that Newcastle United are clearly in talks regarding a number of targets and I think fair to say for sure now, one of those is Anthony Gordon.

All the right people / media who regularly cover Newcastle United (The Athletic, The Mail, The Telegraph, Sky Sports and so on) are reporting this as a fact, as well as the local media on Merseyside.

The message coming out appears to be that a bid of around £40m would seal the deal as a compromise figure, with also of course the structure of how it would be paid (how much up front and how much in future instalments, to help with FFP considerations) needing to be agreed.

However, the essentials appear to be there, with most importantly all three parties, the player and the two clubs wanting this deal to now go ahead.

Everton of course now in the process of appointing a new manager having belatedly sacked Frank Lampard, with their own cash and FFP issues, I think you can see why they may be more agreeable to a reasonable compromise agreed transfer fee, to help give the new manager some wriggle room to bring in a signing or two of his own in the remaining seven days of this window.

Anthony Gordon was missing from first team training at Everton on Tuesday, with no reason given. His absence further fueling belief that a move to St James’ Park is close.

A regular contributor to The Mag, John Martin, posed this question earlier in the week – ‘Does this seemingly imminent Newcastle United bid for Anthony Gordon really make sense?’

Describing Anthony Gordon as a hard working winger / midfielder with a bit of spark and who isn’t slow and also puts himself about.

Also pointing out that Newcastle United already have a fair few players with those kind of qualities and what about the other stuff…goals and assists?

Well, the Anthony Gordon career record in the Premier League so far has seen him make 65 Premier League appearances (42 starts, 23 off the bench), scoring seven goals and getting three assists, having played 4,270 minutes of PL football so far. John Martin then did this comparison with the various wingers and midfielders currently in the Newcastle United

These are the stats for Newcastle United players in comparison in the Premier League, this season (2022/23) and last (2021/22) for the NUFC player stats:

Sean Longstaff 44 PL appearances (31 starts 13 sub) 2 goals and 3 assists (2,963 PL minutes played)

Bruno G.  34 PL appearances (28 starts 6 sub) 8 goals and 4 assists (2,439 PL minutes played)

Joelinton 53 PL appearances (47 starts 6 sub) 6 goals and 2 assists (4,069 PL minutes played)

Joe Willock 49 PL appearances (42 starts 7 sub) 4 goals and 2 assists (3,503 PL minutes played)

Allan Saint-Maximin 47 PL appearances (35 starts 12 sub) 6 goals and 8 assists (3,292 PL minutes played)

Miguel Almiron 50 PL appearances (39 starts 11 sub) 10 goals and 1 assist (4,108 PL minutes played)

Jacob Murphy 46 PL appearances (22 starts 24 sub) 3 goals and 4 assists (2,151 PL minutes played)

Jonjo Shelvey 27 PL appearances (22 starts 5 sub) 2 goals and 1 assist (2,020 PL minutes played)

That then gives us the following stat for each player, of the average number of minutes for each Premier League direct goal involvement:

Anthony Gordon – 427 minutes per PL direct goal involvement on average

Sean Longstaff – 423 minutes

Bruno G.  – 203 minutes

Joelinton – 508 minutes

Joe Willock – 583 minutes

Allan Saint-Maximin – 235 minutes

Miguel Almiron – 373 minutes

Jacob Murphy – 307 minutes

Jonjo Shelvey 673 minutes

Tuesday night at Southampton reminded us of how little killer instinct there is in this Newcastle team / squad in so many games.

Whether in time these current players, or at least some of them, can significantly improve their finishing and decision making with the final ball in promising positions, remains to be seen.

In these basic stats, with just seven goals and three assists so far in 4,270 PL minutes for Anthony Gordon, a direct goal average of one every 427 minutes is nothing to shout about, averaging a goal or assist every four and a half matches worth of minutes.

Question is though, if playing in a much better team and for an infinitely superior manager in Eddie Howe, could Anthony Gordon have plenty of room for improvement when it comes to being a goal threat?

It certainly appears that Eddie Howe himself thinks so and just maybe, the first signing (other than September buy Garang Kuol formally becoming a NUFC player when the January window opened) of this transfer window is imminent, with Anthony Gordon leaving relegation favourites Everton for top four chasing Newcastle United.