Barcelona have finally unveiled Anthony Gordon as their player in a confirmation of his £70million arrival from Newcastle on a contract until 2031.
Gordon was snapped inside the Nou Camp after a series of delays that saw the ceremony pushed back from 12:30pm, with no sign of it starting by 8pm.
The 25-year-old, who is also in England’s World Cup squad for the summer, passed his medical and was set to be revealed as a Barca player, but had been made to wait a few more hours for the news to be announced.
The LaLiga champions repeatedly pushed back his presentation due to minor paperwork issues, and Gordon had been expected to be unveiled on Barcelona’s YouTube channel.
Eventually, his arrival was confirmed in a social media post, alongside the tag line: ‘Catch him if you can’.
Then, suited and booted, Gordon took to the stage on the live stream and spoke in Spanish before adding, in English: ‘I knew it would happen, I have been very calm at the hotel waiting with my family and agents. Very excited. It was hard to wait.
Anthony Gordon has finally been confirmed as a Barcelona player on a five-year contract
The winger waited in his hotel for nearly nine hours before finally being unveiled by the club
‘I cannot explain (the delay). My part was done. I have been ready for today, I think it was legal things and very small details.’
Then, he answered a question in Spanish, before adding: ‘I found out very late. But as soon as I knew Barca was a serious option, there was no question. It is the biggest club on the planet, it is something I always dreamed of, it is a dream come true.’
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.
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 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.
Gordon also said at his unveiling: ‘I know it comes with a lot of responsibility but I am ready. The shirt holds a lot of weight and I am ready.’ After being asked to answer in Spanish, he joked that he would struggle, and then did speak in the language again.
He spoke in Spanish at his unveiling, revealing that he learnt the language because he one day wanted to play for Barcelona
He added: ‘I spoke with Hansi Flick, I am even more excited. he is a very nice person, a great man manager.
‘I was excited to play for Barca when I was three. To play with Lamine (Yamal) and others is very exciting for me. They are the best players in the world, they have so much quality. When we played them at St James’ Park, we could not touch the ball.
‘I wanted to speak Spanish because I believed I would play for Barca, believe it or not. I told the physio in Newcastle that one day I would play for Barca.
‘I only won one trophy with Newcastle, so I am extremely excited to win here. It is special to win anything with Barca, it’s the biggest club on the planet. To win here would be very special. I want to win every trophy, but to win the Champions League and No 6 would be an iconic moment.’
He would then go on to pose with a Barcelona shirt, holding up the back, with his name and ‘2031’ printed on it.
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.
He has set his sights on winning the Champions League in his first season with the club
Newcastle shared their own goodbye video to Gordon on social media. In the video, Gordon was quoted as saying: ‘I love every single minute of playing for Newcastle. Being a part of Newcastle, its an incredible club, one I will never forget, and I will be a fan for the rest of my life.
‘I love St James’ Park so much. I love playing there. We’ve had so many amazing nights, so many big wins. I think the energy, the fans, it’s been so iconic for me, and i have thoroughly loved every minute playing there.
‘On my first day, the people took to me straight away when they didn’t have to. I will never be able to say thank you enough, but thank you very much.’
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’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.
