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Anthony Gordon has skipped Everton training for a third day in a row as talks with Newcastle over a January transfer rumble on, according to Sky Sports News.
Gordon missed training twice this week, but was expected to return to Finch Farm as talks over a potential £40m+ deal with the Magpies continue without a resolution.
But speaking on Sky Sports News [26 January, 11:04am], reporter Vinnie O’Connor says that the 21-year-old winger didn’t show up to the training ground again and there has been no explanation over his absence so far.
“There hasn’t Hayley [been a sign of him] and there hasn’t been for the last two days,” he said.
“A couple of days ago we were told it was a planned absence, but there’s been no explanation for why he wasn’t here at the training ground yesterday and certainly we’ve not seen him arrive at Finch Farm today.
“Our understanding is the players are training, or they were due to start training at 11 o’clock and at the moment Anthony Gordon is not amongst them.
“We know about the interest from Newcastle of course. We’ve said for a couple of days now that there is the possibility that Anthony Gordon could be on his way to Newcastle, obviously the stumbling block there is agreeing a fee. Newcastle would look to pay around £30-40m, Everton want at the very least to get between £40-50m for someone who has been such a raw young talent for them.
“So bit of a way to go in terms of Anthony Gordon’s future, whether or not he’s staying at Everton, but what we can say is that Anthony Gordon has not shown up at Everton’s Finch Farm training ground so far today.”
Unacceptable
If Gordon wants to leave then that’s fine, let the clubs hash out a deal to get him out of the club in a transfer that suits all parties.
But to force through the move by going AWOL from training after everything the club has done for you is just disrespectful and unacceptable.
We helped him through the academy and gave him his big break, with regular first-team football as a young player something that is incredibly hard to come by in the Premier League.
But Gordon has spat in the face of the club and the fans who supported him through it all, by jumping at the first chance to move in the summer and again in mid-season with the club floundering near the bottom of the table.
At this point getting him out should be a priority because this toxic behaviour won’t help our battle with relegation, but we can’t be ripped off and must hold firm in negotiations.