Anthony Gordon's Potential Move to Barcelona: A Transfer Saga

Anthony Gordon is on the brink of a move that changes everything.

Barcelona are closing in on an €80 million (£69.3m, $93.2m) deal for the Newcastle United winger, a fee that would make him one of the headline transfers of the summer and the latest Englishman to test himself under the lights of Camp Nou. Bayern Munich, Arsenal and Liverpool circled, but Barça have moved with purpose and speed to drag the deal towards the finish line.

For Gordon, the pull is obvious. Camp Nou. La Liga. A club that still carries a certain weight when it calls. His future is expected to be settled before he joins up with England ahead of the 2026 World Cup, a rapid resolution to a saga that had been building through the back end of Newcastle’s season.

If the transfer is completed, Gordon will become just the third English player to wear the famous Barcelona colours. The only question then: what number goes on the back of his shirt?

From No. 70 to No. 10: a restless number journey

Gordon’s career has never been tied to a single number. His story starts in the high digits, as so many academy tales do.

He broke through at Everton in 2017–18 wearing No. 70, a teenager thrown into the senior world with a training-ground number that screamed “prospect” rather than “mainstay”. Two seasons later, that changed. Promoted to a more regular first-team role, he moved to No. 42, edging closer to the core of the squad.

Then came a twist. In 2020–21, he flipped those digits and took No. 24 for the first half of the season at Goodison Park. When he left on loan to Preston North End in January, he slipped back into No. 42, a familiar but still fringe figure’s number.

The real step up came with the No. 10. At Everton, the shirt carries weight, and Gordon took it on in what proved to be his final season at the club. It signalled status, responsibility, expectation. When he joined Newcastle, he held on to that identity, again wearing No. 10 after initially biding his time.

His first campaign at St James’ Park, though, required patience. With Allan Saint-Maximin occupying the 10, Gordon settled for No. 8, a compromise while he waited for his preferred number to become available. Once Saint-Maximin departed, Gordon claimed the 10 and hasn’t looked back.

On the international stage, the pattern has been far less settled. England duty has brought a scatter of numbers: 18, 17, 11, 7. No fixed role, no fixed shirt, just a player slotting into whatever space the squad needed.

The Camp Nou wardrobe: what’s on the rail for Gordon?

Barcelona’s dressing room offers a different landscape altogether, shaped by La Liga rules and the club’s own shifting squad.

The most eye-catching vacancy is obvious: No. 9. Once Robert Lewandowski departs as a free agent this summer, the shirt worn by Luis Suárez, Zlatan Ibrahimović, Samuel Eto’o and Ronaldo will hang empty. It is the classic Barça striker’s number, the shirt that carries goals, pressure and history.

But Barcelona are in the market for a new centre-forward. That reality is likely to keep the No. 9 reserved for a pure striker, not a wide forward like Gordon, no matter how influential he becomes.

Other options feel more realistic and still carry a certain prestige. No. 12 is available. So is No. 14, a number with its own rich lineage in Catalonia and the shirt Marcus Rashford wore during his loan spell at the club. For a versatile attacker who thrives between the lines and out wide, 14 would fit neatly into the tradition of creative forwards rather than out-and-out No. 9s.

There could be more movement. If Ferran Torres leaves, No. 7 opens up – a winger’s number, sharp and direct, one that would suit Gordon’s aggressive running and eye for goal. Should Andreas Christensen depart, No. 15 would also become free, a less glamorous but still solid option within the tight La Liga squad-number window.

Then there is the wildcard: No. 2. João Cancelo’s loan expiry will free up the full-back’s jersey, a number rarely associated with attacking wingers. If Gordon wanted something unconventional, something that instantly marks him out, he could follow the modern trend of creative players ripping up the old numbering rulebook.

La Liga regulations restrict first-team players to numbers between 1 and 25, so there will be no return to the wild days of No. 70. Whatever Gordon chooses – or is handed – in Barcelona will sit firmly in that traditional band, even if the symbolism is anything but routine.

From a teenager in No. 70 at Everton to a potential marquee signing weighing up No. 7, 10, 12, 14 or beyond at Camp Nou, Gordon’s shirt history tracks his rise. The next number he pulls over his head in Catalonia will say plenty about how Barcelona see him.

The fee tells you they expect a star. The back of the shirt will show what kind of star they believe he can be.