Gordon fee will be available for new Everton boss Dyche to spend
As we still wait for final confirmation (why does this club always take so long to announce anything?!) that Sean Dyche is the new Everton mananger, it looks as though Anthony Gordon is finally on his way to Newcastle United.
The departure of the young forward has been on the cards for days now and according to Sky Sports he is in the North East for a medical as the clubs finalise a move away from Everton.
To be honest, I’m quite happy to see him go as his antics over the past few days have been irritating and an unwelcome distraction as the Toffees’ tried to find another new manager.
After a breakthrough campaign last season, Gordon also hasn’t been as effective a player this term and in fact has sometimes been a problem for his team.
He was suspended at one point due to the accumulation of yellow cards for often petty indiscipline earlier in the season and arguably was at fault for Southampton’s winning goal a few week back too.
It was also clear in the summer that his head had been turned by the rumoured interest of Chelsea in the former Blues’ academy product.
I don’t know how concrete and substantial the West London’s club’s interest really was (with claims of a £60 million offer) but at any rate Gordon at one point seemed to indicate that he would be interested in joining them.
And now the links to Newcastle have been growing over the previous few weeks leading up to a proposed move this weekend.
This situation reminds me a little of Francis Jeffers way back in the late nineties. He was another talent who had come through the youth system and got his chance in the first-team at a time when Everton were again fighting for their top flight survivial.
He scored a few goals and certainly looked a promising young player, but quickly decided he wanted to move on and left for Arsenal shortly afterwards.
His career never went anywhere at the Gunners and I felt he should have stayed put at Goodison Park, at least for a few seasons.
That was what arguably the club’s best ever youth product, Wayne Rooney, who came through a few years later did, before his eventual departure to Manchester United.
Like Jeffers, it’s clear Gordon doesn’t want to be at Everton anymore, so as I said in the summer, the club should let him go and get the best fee possible out of whoever ends up buying him.
The rumoured amount the Magpies’ will cough up is about £45 million, which is less than Chelsea were supposedly prepared to pay last summer.
Anyway, it seems that this transfer (assuming it goes through) will give Sean Dyche some much-needed extra cash to spend himself before the window shuts on Tuesday.
He will no doubt have a number of targets identified and there are claims of at least three or four, but he’s going to have to move very fast to get them throught the door in time.
As ususal this club always does things the hard way! At least he will have a week to look at the existing squad he has inherited before Everton take on Arsenal next weekend.