By

Newcastle United reporter

Anthony Gordon was deep in thought.

As club anthem 'Cant del Barca' rang out, the Newcastle United forward was sat on the steps in the Spotify Camp Nou tunnel, taking it all in.

It was just a few minutes before Newcastle faced Barcelona in the second leg of their Champions League knockout tie back in March.

Stages do not come much bigger than this one.

Few could have imagined Gordon would be returning to this very stadium to be unveiled as a Barcelona player just a couple of months later, even if he always looked likely to depart.

Gordon is understood to have viewed his spell at Newcastle as the best three and-a-half years of his life.

He is immensely grateful for what the club's coaching staff and his team-mates have done for him.

However, the England forward has never disguised his ambition to get to the "very top" as he arrives in Barcelona to undergo a medical and complete his £69.3m move.

Former Newcastle team-mate Matt Ritchie knows that better than most.

"It's his work ethic and application," he said. "He's laser-focused on being the best he can be.

"Working with Eddie [Howe] and all the coaches in Newcastle, he couldn't have fallen into better hands in that regard.

"Knowing Ant how I know him, he dreams big, he thinks big and you can see with his personality on the pitch.

"He became a team player but will always have that edge and controlled arrogance, which all these top players have, so I'm not surprised he's moving on to a club with the stature of Barcelona."

What now for Rashford?

By

Chief football news reporter

So what does it mean for Gordon's England team-mate Marcus Rashford?

After all, the La Liga champions also had the option - and still do - of making the 28-year-old's loan move from Manchester United permanent for £26m.

However, Barca have prioritised a move for Gordon, who also offers versatility on the left and through the middle, but is three years younger and on a lower wage.

Not that his arrival rules out a Rashford return.

Sources close to the United forward say the situations are separate.

There is a 15 June deadline for Barcelona to activate the transfer clause. However, sources feel it is unrealistic to think United could sell Rashford for more money to another club he would be prepared to join.

Barca have been trying to renegotiate the terms of the clause, something United are unwilling to do. It is, therefore, not beyond the realms of possibility the deadline could pass without agreement, but negotiations could continue anyway.

Rather than an arbitrary point after the World Cup has started, the key period is the gap between the end of England's time in the United States, whenever that is, and Rashford's planned return to training, which will be about three weeks later.

That is a point at which some kind of deal needs to be done to avoid manager Michael Carrick having to decide if he is willing to bring back a player who club chiefs would far prefer was not there.

The Champions League and Premier League contrast

Barcelona are convinced about signing Gordon and there is a belief within the club that there is more to come from the Liverpool-born forward, both with and without the ball.

When manager Hansi Flick spoke about Newcastle being a "very intense" side, earlier this season, the 25-year-old will have been among those at the forefront of his thoughts with his speed and aggression.

German Flick places as much importance on players' work rate as their flair.

Yet it is Gordon's goal return in Europe which clearly caught the eye of Barca and, indeed, fellow suitors Bayern Munich.

Although there were a few penalties along the way, and he came up against some leaky defences, only Real Madrid forward Kylian Mbappe (15) and Bayern Munich striker Harry Kane (14) have scored more goals in the Champions League this season than Gordon (10).

It is a stage Gordon has relished, having sounded like someone who had grown a little jaded with how the Premier League had become "a lot slower and a lot more set-piece based".

"Sometimes it's about duels - who wins the duels wins the game - or moments," he said of the top flight back in January.

"The Champions League is a bit more of an older style game. It's a bit more football based. Teams come and try and play proper football."

'I don't think the stage or badge will change him'

That clearly suited Gordon.

Digging deeper, according to Opta, the England international has had a significantly better shot conversion rate in the Champions League (38.5%) compared to the Premier League (12.5%) in 2025-26.

Gordon has also had more shots (three) and touches in the opposition box (6.1); attempted more dribbles (3.9); and had a better dribble success rate (45.5%) per 90 minutes in Europe than when playing in the English top flight.

He averaged a goal or assist every 64 minutes in the Champions League in contrast to just one every 227 minutes in the Premier League in the campaign just gone.

The difference in numbers reflects some of the opponents Gordon has come up against after facing some particularly solid Premier League sides throughout the campaign.

But it also illustrates how he has tended to raise his game in Europe, which feeds into a wider point that Gordon's best matches for Newcastle have often come against the biggest teams over the years.

The test at Barcelona will be to deliver week in, week out, particularly given the level of competition for a starting place, as he battles it out with Raphinha among others.

According to BBC Sport columnist Guillem Balague, Barcelona have also opened talks to sign Julian Alvarez, with an agreement in place with the Argentine forward.

But Atletico Madrid are likely to turn down the 90m euros Barca are expected to offer.

Whoever else does come in, Gordon can expect tough competition.

"That will be a challenge [Gordon] will relish to take his game to the next level," Ritchie added.

"I don't think the stage or badge will change him as a person. He will always have this inner drive, this mentality, to be the best."

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