Klub raksasa Spanyol Barcelona resmi merampungkan transfer penyerang sayap tim nasional Inggris Anthony Gordon dari Newcastle United setelah berakhirnya musim 2025/2026.
Pemain berusia 25 tahun tersebut ditebus dengan nilai kesepakatan mencapai 80 juta euro atau sekitar 70 juta poundsterling dan telah menandatangani kontrak berdurasi lima tahun di Camp Nou.
Dilansir dari media The Mag, Barcelona saat ini mulai keluar dari krisis finansial setelah manajemen sukses memenuhi aturan Financial Fair Play (FFP) La Liga, khususnya regulasi 1:1, berkat pembukaan kembali Camp Nou serta restu pelaporan pendapatan kursi VIP stadion.
Langkah transfer ini memicu beragam tanggapan dari sejumlah figur sepak bola mengenai dampak yang akan diberikan oleh Anthony Gordon di dalam skuad asuhan Hansi Flick.
Mantan pelatih Gordon di Everton, Antonio Gomez, menyatakan keyakinannya bahwa pemain sayap tersebut akan memberikan pengaruh besar yang serupa dengan kontribusi Raphinha di lini serang Blaugrana.
"For me, Gordon is going to make the difference, like Raphinha has done," ujar Antonio Gomez, Mantan Coach Everton kepada media Sport.
Gomez menambahkan bahwa Gordon merupakan sosok pemain yang rendah hati dan selalu menunjukkan kemauan keras untuk terus belajar melalui evaluasi video taktis secara mendalam.
"We sat down to talk a lot with him, to show him videos, to correct things that had not gone well, situations with the team tactically that had to be improved… he accepted it an also asked for it. There are other players who know they have those tools and they don’t ask for them, but Anthony asked for them," kata Antonio Gomez, Mantan Coach Everton.
Gomez juga mengisahkan bahwa pemain asal Inggris tersebut tetap menjadi sosok kompetitif yang penuh rasa hormat selama bekerja sama dengannya.
"Footballers often forget the people we have had around us, but he has that memory. He was a very humble guy. He was in a Mercedes, but on the pitch he was a competitive, constant beast who gave it his all. He is super grateful to us. In fact, when he signed for Newcastle he sent me shirts," ucap Antonio Gomez, Mantan Coach Everton.
Di sisi lain, mantan pemain Manchester City, Shaun Wright-Phillips, justru mempertanyakan urgensi serta kejelasan posisi bermain Gordon di dalam skema taktik Barcelona mendatang.
"First of all, I don’t understand it because I thought Barcelona were in debt and they were struggling to pay £25m for Marcus Rashford, who has done unbelievable things there already. Secondly, I’m not quite sure where Anthony Gordon is going to play. I have had a conversation with a few of my old teammates and they think he’s going to play as a number nine, but Barcelona are also going in for Julian Alvarez as well. If they end up getting him, what was the point of Gordon leaving Newcastle where he’s playing all the time?" cetus Shaun Wright-Phillips, Mantan Pemain Manchester City saat diwawancarai oleh Betway.
Gordon dijadwalkan segera bergabung dengan Barcelona setelah menyelesaikan tugasnya membela tim nasional Inggris di Piala Dunia 2026.
