Newcastle winger Anthony Gordon has given his agent firm instructions over interest in his services from Liverpool this summer, per a trusted source, though Reds manager Arne Slot appears to have cast his eyes elsewhere with an approach move made for a vastly-less-costly alternative.
The Magpies winger is currently away on international duty with England at Euro 2024, where he hopes – perhaps forlornly – to have done enough to persuade Gareth Southgate to start him in Saturday’s quarter-final clash against Switzerland in Dusseldorf. Despite his attention very much focused on his country, that did not prevent the player from being put up for discussion in what would have been one of this summer’s most controversial transfers, with his club, Newcastle, offering him in a transfer to Liverpool.
Ultimately, Newcastle raised the funds they needed to appease PSR by offloading Elliott Anderson to Nottingham Forest and Yakuba Mineh to Brighton for a combined £65m, staving off the threat of them losing star man Gordon, who was named their player of the year last season.
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That potentially-huge move was ultimately curtailed by Liverpool’s refusal to accept the departure of Jarell Quansah as part of the deal, while Newcastle’s £80m valuation was also seen as being too high.
However, in the days that have followed, it has emerged that not only was Gordon very much open to the move to the side he supported as a boy, but also that Liverpool, as we exclusively revealed, had not ruled out a possible move for the 23-year-old later this summer.
To that end, we understand Slot is a firm admirer of the former Everton man, with the Dutchman keen to make a statement signing this summer – of which Gordon, no doubt, would be.
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However, with Newcastle unwilling to budge on their £75m to £80m valuation of Gordon, a deal looks extremely difficult for Liverpool to pull off, even if they factor in a potential makeweight like Caiomhin Kelleher as has been previously suggested.
And with cheaper alternatives on the market – the Reds have been linked with a move for Spain star Nico Williams and Belgian livewire, Johan Bakayoko, among others – reports on Thursday claim the Merseysiders have now ‘made contact’ with the agent of Leeds star Crysencio Summerville over a potential move.
The Dutch star has just enjoyed the season of his life at Elland Road, scoring 21 goals and adding 10 assists to become the first player for the Whites to reach doublem figures in both columns in one season since Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink back in 1998/99.
Despite his best efforts, Summerville could not quite inspire Leeds over the promotion line and a second season back in the second tier now awaits the West Yorkshire side.
As a result, the Whites know they face a tough task in retaining the 22-year-old’s services this summer. Sources have told TEAMtalk that Chelsea remain very much on his trail this summer and could yet launch an offer to prise him from Leeds.
However, they may have to act quickly after it emerged that Liverpool had ‘moved in’ to try and strike a deal with Leeds for the electric left-sided star.
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While Leeds are in no hurry to sell their star man, it’s understood that an offer worth in the region of £40m would give them a serious dilemma over his potential sale. It would also help generously fund the signings of two to three of their own summer targets.
Anthony Gordon makes feelings clear on Liverpool move
And per the latest reports, the Reds believe his signing represents real value as opposed the giant fees quoted elsewhere.
Indeed, any move to take the 2024 EFL Player of the Year to Anfield would effectively bring to an end Gordon’s hopes of making a dream move to Anfield this summer.
TEAMtalk revealed earlier this week that Gordon was very keen on making the move if the opportunity presented itself and now trusted journalist Luke Edwards has confirmed the player had instructed his agent to do all in his power to make that transfer a reality.
“There were conversations with Liverpool about Gordon, whose agent was pushing hard for him to get the move to his boyhood club right up until the June 30 deadline,” Edwards wrote for the Telegraph.
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“The player, according to multiple Newcastle sources, had wanted the transfer to go through and had been talking about it to team-mates while on England duty at the Euros.
“Liverpool, though, were lukewarm in their interest, failed to make a bid and the numbers talked about were so low they would not have made a meaningful contribution to the PSR deficit.”
Ultimately, though, Newcastle’s demands, matched with the fact they no longer need to sell, makes a transfer hugely unlikely this summer. The fact many cheaper alternatives are on the market too stands against the Newcastle man and the fact that a move for one of those has now seemingly been made, tells you all you need to know about his prospects of sealing the move.
