Anthony Gordon moved quickly to dismiss talk of a summer switch to Arsenal or Liverpool after an outstanding Champions League performance for Newcastle. Having scored four first-half goals against Qaraba\u011f on Wednesday night, he was asked about the transfer speculation. “About me?” he replied. “I haven\u2019t seen them. What are they saying?”<\/p>\n
When journalists named Arsenal and Liverpool, Gordon was equally direct. “It\u2019s the same old, same old. I think they just pick names out of a hat. They do. I haven\u2019t heard anything; they might want to tell me before they tell you [the media].”<\/p>\n
He underlined his view of media-driven transfer stories in plain terms. “I have gone through enough transfer stuff now to know that it is all a load of rubbish.”<\/p>\n
Even if Gordon appears unlikely to move, the article notes both Arsenal and Liverpool still need reinforcements on the left. Liverpool have not fully replaced Luis D\u00edaz and lost another option with the tragic passing of Diogo Jota. Cody Gakpo has had an underwhelming campaign while Rio Ngumoha\u2019s evolution into a first-team regular has been patchy.<\/p>\n
Arsenal\u2019s options include 31-year-old Leandro Trossard as the most convincing current solution on the left. Eberechi Eze could function there in the right system, and Gabriel Martinelli\u2019s profile could be upgraded should he depart; Martinelli currently has one Premier League goal with 70% of the season elapsed.<\/p>\n
Paris Saint-Germain\u2019s Bradley Barcola is highlighted as the most desirable option for both clubs. The 23-year-old Frenchman can operate across the frontline, leads Ligue 1 for non-penalty expected goals per 90 and ranks seventh for average expected assists. When PSG\u2019s players are fully fit, he is not in Luis Enrique\u2019s first-choice XI, which could create an opening.<\/p>\n
Harvey Barnes is presented as a nearer alternative. Stats via Opta show Barnes (25 games, five non-penalty goals, 5.7 NP xG) ahead of Gordon (20 games, one non-penalty goal, 4.0 NP xG). An entirely uncharacteristic quartet against Qaraba\u011f notwithstanding, Gordon is far less prolific than Barnes, who averages 0.37 non-penalty xG per 90 for Newcastle.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Gordon dismissed transfer links to Arsenal and Liverpool after a four-goal Champions League night. a<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6963,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[192,175,194,1163],"tags":[1162,506,673],"class_list":["post-6964","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arsenal","category-liverpool","category-newcastle-united","category-transfers","tag-analytics","tag-anthony-gordon","tag-bradley-barcola"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6964","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6964"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6964\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6963"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6964"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6964"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6964"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}