Anthony Gordon arrived at Barcelona in late May without a goal for his new club, and five weeks into the La Liga season he still does not have one. What he does have is five assists in five appearances, one of them off the bench in a 5-1 Champions League win over Feyenoord.
Barcelona signed Gordon on 29 May 2026 from Newcastle United on a five-year contract, for a guaranteed €70m fee plus up to €10m in add-ons. On arrival he called it “a dream come true”.
The market has already reacted. Transfermarkt lifted his valuation from €60m on the day of the signing to €80m by 22 July, as beIN SPORTS noted, a figure that already matches the maximum Barcelona could ever owe Newcastle under the deal.
Why the club picked him over Rashford
Barcelona had a cheaper option on the table. Manchester United winger Marcus Rashford, on loan at Camp Nou last season, could have been made permanent for €30m. Instead the club paid nearly double for Gordon, a call sporting director Deco has since defended to ESPN.
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“His style fits with what the coach is looking for.”
“Our idea of play is much more linked to Anthony,” Deco told the broadcaster, pointing to a loss of intensity in Barcelona’s attack as the reason for prioritising a more direct forward.
Newcastle wrote themselves back into the deal
The €10m in add-ons was not casual boilerplate. Newcastle’s negotiators built the structure to keep the club paid whenever Gordon plays or wins, Sportbible reported: €1m per season, up to a total of €5m, whenever the winger features in at least 60 percent of Barcelona’s matches; a further €5m if he helps them to a trophy; and an undisclosed sell-on percentage on any future transfer.
At his current rate of involvement, both performance clauses are on track. Hansi Flick has used him in every one of Barcelona’s five competitive games so far.
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Flick sees the pass, not the missing goal
Speaking ahead of the Feyenoord tie, Flick played down the lack of goals from his new forward.
“A striker like him wants to score goals. But providing the final pass for a goal is also very important. He’s doing well in both attack and defence. It’s a very good situation for him and for us.”
Gordon has laid on his five assists in just over 270 minutes on the pitch. According to FootballTransfers, the tally makes him only the third player this century to open a La Liga career with four assists in his first four matches, joining Cesc Fàbregas and Luis Suárez, both, as it happens, Barcelona signings.
Gordon managed five assists in 45 matches for Newcastle last season. He has already matched that tally in a month.
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