Anthony Gordon: From a die-hard Mourinho fan to a Barcelona 'bombshell' signing.

Anthony Gordon openly admires Jose Mourinho, but chose to join Barca to strengthen the La Liga champions.

The 2026 summer transfer window saw one of the biggest surprises, with Barcelona reaching an agreement to sign Anthony Gordon from Newcastle.

Not only because of his talent, but also because of the lightning-fast speed at which Barca reached an agreement to sign the England international.

Gordon is in Barcelona. Photo: MD

Gordon has repeatedly and publicly admitted to being a fan of Jose Mourinho, and is now capable of playing in the entire attacking line – despite starting his career as a left winger. He was once targeted by several major European clubs, including Bayern Munich.

The deal was finalized when the Catalan club agreed to pay Newcastle a fixed fee of 70 million euros, plus up to 10 million euros in add-ons depending on clauses.

The negotiations, conducted by Sporting Director Deco, proceeded surprisingly quickly. This was perhaps because the 2026 World Cup was approaching and Gordon's value could skyrocket if he shone with the England team.

Having trained at the Everton academy after being released by Liverpool at the age of 11, Gordon made his first-team debut in December 2017 in a Europa League match (Everton beat Apollon Limassol of Cyprus 3-0). At that time, he played alongside Ademola Lookman, now on the books of Atletico Madrid.

Following conflicts with Everton's unruly fan group, Gordon decided to leave the club and move to Newcastle in the 2022/23 winter transfer window for a fee of approximately €46 million plus €6 million in add-ons.

At Newcastle, he significantly improved his goalscoring ability – something that had been rather lackluster during his time at Everton. Gordon left Newcastle with 39 goals and 28 assists in 152 appearances.

Gordon is a big fan of Mourinho. Photo: PA

Pressing striker

In the 2025/26 season, his statistics in the Champions League were particularly impressive. Newcastle were eliminated by Barca in the round of 16 after a 1-1 draw in England and a 2-7 defeat in Spain. In the group stage, "Blaugrana" won 2-1.

Nevertheless, Gordon still scored 10 goals in 12 matches in Europe's most prestigious competition. Interestingly, his first goal came against the very team that became his new club.

A high-energy playing style, always pressing aggressively against the opponent's defense, would certainly be a good fit for coach Hansi Flick.

Interestingly, Gordon has never hesitated to publicly express his admiration for Mourinho – a coach who hasn't received much affection from Barca fans despite having worked at Camp Nou.

“Jose told me, ‘You’re fantastic,’ and that was a huge compliment to me. Because, ever since I was a child, Mourinho has been my favorite coach,” Gordon shared after the 3-0 win against Benfica, where he scored one goal and provided one assist.

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/anthony-gordon-fan-ruot-mourinho-va-bom-tan-cua-barca-2520751.html