The nickname did not come from inside the Barcelona dressing room. It came from X.

“I miss when I still had a reliable left winger in my team. Now I’m stuck with white English Garnacho. #Rashford,” one Barcelona supporter wrote.

The post, picked up by Brit Brief in its roundup of the fallout, was one of several comparing Gordon unfavourably with the Manchester United forward who spent last season on loan at the Camp Nou.

Barcelona lost 4-2 at Parc des Princes on 20 October, their 11-match winning run ended by late goals from Vitinha and Fabián Ruiz. According to Al Jazeera’s match report, Désiré Doué and Lucas Hernández had put PSG in command before Xavi Espart and Lamine Yamal replied for the visitors, who were pegged back in the final 10 minutes.

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Gordon’s stat line did not help

Gordon stayed on for the full 90, his first time doing so as a Barcelona player. The underlying numbers were thin. Zero shots. None of three attempted dribbles completed. One of nine duels won. Nine losses of possession. He did set up one big chance and register two key passes, but inside PSG’s box he touched the ball just seven times and never once got a strike away.

Alejandro Garnacho, now on a season-long loan at Aston Villa from Chelsea, has long drawn jibes in Spain and England for a trademark cocktail of highlight-reel moments and quiet nights, and that is the sense Barcelona fans were reaching for.

The Rashford backdrop

Barcelona chose Gordon over keeping Rashford, who had been on loan from Manchester United last season. The club reached a €70m agreement with Newcastle in May, handing Gordon a five-year contract and effectively doubling his wages. Deco, Barça’s sporting director, has publicly argued Gordon is a better stylistic fit than Rashford in Hansi Flick’s system.

“If we’re being honest, Rashford is still the better option,” one X user wrote, pointing to Gordon’s shot-taking and decision-making.

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Not everyone bought in

The reaction was not uniform. Other supporters pushed back on the pile-on after a single game.

“With just one game, you all are already rating him down; what inconsistent fans,” one wrote.

Gordon arrived with a reputation as a high-intensity presser, and defenders of the signing argued one away leg at Parc des Princes, where PSG had just handed out injury blows of their own to Ousmane Dembélé and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, was no verdict on a five-year project.

Gordon’s next chance to answer his critics is Barcelona’s El Clásico fixture against Real Madrid, with Sky Sports reporting he has spoken about being fuelled by Barça’s belief and his Ballon d’Or ambitions ahead of the meeting.

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