By George Overhill

15th Aug, 2022 | 7:40pm

Everton star Anthony Gordon has told Frank Lampard he wants to go to Chelsea

Anthony Gordon has told Everton manager Frank Lampard he wants the offer from Chelsea to be considered, according to The Mirror.

The star winger was subject to an opening approach that was add-on heavy and rejected by the Toffees, but the Stamford Bridge club have now returned with a bid of £45million.

That has prompted the 21-year-old to make clear to the club that he wants to leave and he will not be signing the new contract they offered him three weeks ago.

Despite rejecting the first offer out of hand, as they did with similar approaches from Tottenham and Newcastle earlier in the window it appears the club accept he could go.

In his Mirror report David Maddock writes: “The club reiterated its desire to keep Gordon last night, stating there had been no formal offer, but there is a growing understanding that if Gordon pushes for the move, it will be tough to stand in his way.”

Devastating

The homegrown attacking star is probably the single player that fans would want to see leave the least now, especially after Richarlison was sold earlier in the window.

The club can play hardball and insist he is going nowhere, but if the player has changed his mind that makes things much more difficult.

Had he already signed the new deal before his head was turned it would have been a far stronger negotiating position for the club to operate from.

That fact that he didn’t, and apparently now will not, suggests he was open to leave if the right offer came in and unfortunately it appears that it now has from his point of view.

It hasn’t reached the club’s valuation, which arguably should be higher considering the importance of what his sale would represent, on top of losing him functionally from the team, but it feels like it could be only a matter of time.

Fans were desperate to see further attacking help arrive before the window shut, with only Salomon Rondon available as a recognised striker, and it will be a huge blow to see another star leave instead.

Gordon has been pressed into action as a false-nine in the absence of Dominic Calvert-Lewin, and the disarray that has led to that situation, and resulted in two-straight losses, may have even contributed to his willingness to look elsewhere.

It’s been a difficult start to the season and this is the last thing the manager, or the fans, needed on top.