England and Newcastle star Anthony Gordon has boarded a private jet ahead of his £70million switch to Barcelona.
The winger set off from Newcastle International Airport at 11.10am and is expected to land in Spain in the early afternoon.
He will have his medical later today after Barcelona beat Liverpool and Bayern Munich in a transfer race for the 25-year-old.
Sporting director Deco met with his representatives on Monday, and on Wednesday it emerged that Barca had agreed a £70m deal – including bonuses and a future percentage of any sale for the Magpies.
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.
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.
Anthony Gordon is flying from Newcastle to Barcelona via private jet for a £70million move
He will have his medical on Thursday after Barca beat Liverpool and Bayern Munich to him
Boss Eddie Howe admitted it was this that was keeping him out of the team.
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.
Gordon’s arrival spells further questions for the future of Marcus Rashford, who has impressed on loan from Manchester United.
The only inhibition appearing to hold back the LaLiga champions from signing Rashford permanently has been financial, so it is a surprise to see them splash a much more significant outlay on Gordon.
They still intend to discuss a deal for Marcus Rashford with Manchester United this week but their objective is to secure another loan.
Hansi Flick’s side have until June 15 to trigger a clause to buy the England forward for £26m.
Deco was in London for a series of meetings with potential targets in the days prior to the FA Cup final and is understood to have met Gordon’s camp then as well to state genuine interest.
He also used that opportunity to meet Joao Pedro’s agents but Chelsea have no desire to sell.
Liverpool will have to turn their sights elsewhere.
Their interest in Gordon has been longstanding, but they are focusing on RB Leipzig’s £85m-rated Yan Diomande with Paris St Germain’s Bradley Barcola another option.
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.
