Barcelona have delayed the unveiling of England star Anthony Gordon on several occasions, with his £70million move from Newcastle set to be confirmed this afternoon.
The 25-year-old has passed his medical and was set to be revealed as a Barca player at 12:30 BST on Friday, but has been made to wait a number of hours for the news to be announced.
The LaLiga champions have repeatedly pushed back his presentation due to minor paperwork issues, and Gordon was expected to be unveiled on Barcelona’s YouTube channel at 5:45pm BST. The live stream started at that time, but still fans wait.
Sporting director Deco met with Gordon’s representatives on Monday, and on Wednesday it emerged that the LaLiga champions had agreed a £70m deal that includes bonuses and a future percentage of any sale for the Magpies.
The winger arrived in Spain on Thursday afternoon and has since signed a five-year contract at the club. He was seen arriving at club offices in the afternoon.
Following his presentation at the Nou Camp, Gordon will join up with his England team-mates for the Three Lions’ pre-World Cup training camp in Florida.
Barcelona have dealyed the unveiling Anthony Gordon following a £70million move from Newcastle
Barcelona have beaten out tough competition to secure the sought-after forward’s signature, with Bayern Munich and Liverpool both having shown strong interest in the player.
Gordon’s camp had spoken to both Barca and Bayern, and the framework of personal terms with the latter had been in place for several weeks. However, the Bundesliga club would not go beyond their £60m valuation.
Meanwhile, Liverpool will have to turn their sights elsewhere, after they learned that Gordon preferred a move to Barca over the switch to Anfield.
Gordon came close to joining Liverpool two years ago with a medical set up in Germany while he was on international duty at Euro 2024, only for Newcastle to pull the plug on the deal as they sold Elliot Anderson to Nottingham Forest instead.
Everton have a sell-on clause that will see them receive 15 per cent of the profit after they sold Gordon to Newcastle for £45m in 2023.
The England winger finished the season as Newcastle’s top scorer with 18 goals but failed to feature in the final six games of the campaign amid speculation over his future.
Magpies manager Eddie Howe previously admitted that the uncertainty surrounding Gordon was keeping him out of the team toward the end of the season.
It is the second most expensive sale in Newcastle’s history, after the British record £125m fee they received from Liverpool for Alexander Isak last summer.
Gordon has signed a five-year deal with Barcelona and is set to be confirmed as their newest star on Friday afternoon
Gordon’s arrival in Catalonia cast further doubt over the future of Marcus Rashford, who has impressed on loan from Manchester United.
The only apparent obstacle to the LaLiga champions signing Rashford permanently has been financial, so it has been deemed a surprise to see them make a much larger outlay on Gordon.
It is understood that despite the signing of Gordon, Barcelona still intend to discuss a deal for Rashford with United this week, but their objective is to secure another loan rather than the permanent deal that the Red Devils seek.
Hansi Flick’s side have until June 15 to trigger a clause to buy the England forward for £26m.
More to follow.
