Harry Watkinson
Everton’s Anthony Gordon: To sell or not to sell?
Chelsea have reportedly had an initial bid of £40 million rejected for Everton’s Anthony Gordon and are expected to respond with an improved offer, but should Everton sell or keep the 21-year-old?
A boyhood Evertonian with a LOT of potential, Blues fans are divided over whether to take the money while they can or to keep their young starlet.
This article breaks down his stats from 2021-22 and weighs up the pros and cons of both options.
Sell:
First, £45-£50 million is a LOT of money for a player who only scored four goals and made two assists last season. He always seems to be a threat to the opposition because of his pace and work rate, but for a player who featured 40 times for Everton last season… those are not really the numbers of a big-money player.
When you look at Everton’s finances too, they could do with offloading some players. Yes, they would ideally prefer to keep Gordon, but this offer from Chelsea may be too good to turn down. Last season, they were close to the wire in terms of breaching the Premier League’s Financial Fair Play regulations, and despite selling Richarlison for £50 million this summer… they have already spent a combined £53.3 million on Dwight McNeil and Amadou Onana. So again, Everton are in a position where they could do with generating more funds, and Chelsea know this.
Arguably, what they need more than Gordon right now is a striker. In fact, in their first two matches this season (of which they have lost both), Gordon has played in a centre-forward role and struggled massively. This isn’t his fault, as the youngster is an out-and-out winger, but Everton’s only fit striker at the moment is an ageing Salomon Rondon, with Dominic Calvert Lewin expected to be injured for another three months. If they can reinvest the funds from the Gordon sale into a proven goal scorer, Evertonians could be happy with the switch.
It's also worth mentioning that with Gordon being an Everton academy graduate, any funds raised would be 100% profit. This is unusual for the Blues who over the last few years have often bought and sold off players for a big loss. Just think of Oumar Niasse (bought for £16m, released in 2021), Yannick Bolasie (bought for £25 million, left on a free) and Cenk Tosun (bought for £27m, left on a free)… the Gordon deal would be a welcome change from a shambolic record of financial mismanagement.
Another interesting take which is doing the rounds on Twitter is: ‘Would Evertonians be happy if they signed Gordon for £50 million?’ The answer is generally no. It would be seen as a huge risk to take a punt on a young player who didn’t score many goals last season. Chelsea, of course, are in a much different position to Everton though, with plenty of money to spend.
Perhaps the most relevant factor to consider though is the fact that Everton could get a Chelsea player in return for Gordon as part of the deal… either permanently or on loan. Frank Lampard has been keen on bringing Armando Broja to Goodison Park since the start of the window – while a permanent deal looks unlikely, a season-long loan isn’t out of the question. Conor Gallagher is another Lampard likes, as well as Billy Gilmour, both of which would also likely be loans. But another interesting one could be a permanent deal for Michy Batshuayi. The Belgian striker is out of favour at Stamford Bridge, but scored 14 goals in Turkey last season… could he be the man to solve Everton’s striker worries? At least temporarily?
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Keep:
Despite his lack of goals, the obvious reason for Everton keeping Anthony Gordon is his HUGE potential.
Arguably, he could end up as one of the best wingers in the Premier League over the next few years. He is lightning fast, good with the ball at his feet and very confident. Frank Lampard certainly rates him very highly, saying in April:
“Anthony is a great kid and possesses one of the greatest young attitudes I’ve experienced in the game. We’re playing against [Chelsea] this weekend and he’s very similar to Mason Mount.
“He’s very similar in his attitude, application, his talent levels and he’s determined, that’s what he is.”
When you look at Gordon’s stats beyond his goals and assists, you can see why Chelsea are so keen. He is one of the top young dribblers in the league, completing 1.1 dribbles per game last season. As mentioned, he is unbelievably quick and over a short distance the fastest in Everton’s squad. He also creates chances for his teammates too, averaging 1 key pass per game and 0.7 makes crosses per 90 – using his pace effectively to get into positions to supply balls into the box.
The 21-year-old also shows confidence in front of goal and despite not scoring many, took an average of 1.3 shots on target per match last season. You would expect his finishing to improve as he grows in experience… last season was, after all, his first playing regularly in the Premier League, so you can expect more goals from him this season.
Also, despite struggling to find the net in the last campaign he still performed well in some huge matches for the Toffees. Gordon scored the winning goal in their 1-0 victory over Manchester United towards the end of the season, which was vital in the Toffees surviving relegation. But in general, his work rate and aggression were key to his game and he quickly became loved by the Goodison faithful.
That is another big factor the Everton board must consider before selling the youngster… when the Blues have sold young, hungry, promising, boyhood Evertonian players it has not gone well for them in the past. The obvious example is Wayne Rooney. Sold to Manchester United at 18 years old, then went on to win numerous titles and trophies for the Red Devils and became England’s all-time top goal scorer, even though Rooney (at the time, at least) did not want to leave.
Another more recent example would be Ross Barkley, who was sold to Chelsea in 2018 for £15 million. He did not go on to have the same success due to injuries, but still broke Evertonian hearts when he left. Gordon leaving could cause the fans to turn on Lampard and the board… just after they finally reunited them following the tumultuous period under Rafa Benitez.
Reports are conflicting over what Anthony Gordon wants. Some say he would love to join Chelsea; others say he will only leave if forced out… nothing is clear on that front. One thing is for sure though, even if they get £50 million+ for Gordon, Evertonians will be split down the middle over whichever decision the club choose.