Newcastle officials announced Gordon’s joining yesterday, and TheAthletic sent a message to analyze the transfer of English players.
The text is as follows:
After Gordon moved from Everton to Newcastle, fans, clubs and agents will ask whether the transfer fee of 40 million pounds is reasonable. Considering that Chelsea spent 60 million pounds last summer, maybe Newcastle signed Gordon as a good transfer.
Gordon, 21, made 78 appearances for Everton, scored 7 goals and assisted 8 times. His debut at Everton was in the European League in Apollon Limassol, Cyprus in December 2017. Gordon made his Premier League debut against Liverpool in June 2020 (the two sides drew 0-0). After last season, Gordon won the title of the best young player in Everton.
Although this shows Gordon’s potential, his transfer fee also reflects the transfer fee of young English players. Arsenal signed Ben Wright for 50 million euros in 2021, and Manchester United signed Wan-Pisa card for almost the same price in 2019. This also shows that Gordon’s transfer fee is not particularly noticeable.
The reason for the high cost is that the rules put forward by the FA in 2015 require that the first team of the Premier League must have 8 domestic players. The FA defines domestic players as players who have played for English professional league clubs for at least 3 years before the age of 21. Gordon’s transfer fee is higher than Jiakebo’s, which also caused discussion among fans.
The 23-year-old Gakpo scored 13 goals for Eindhoven before the World Cup and 3 goals for Holland at the World Cup. In contrast, Gordon has played 18 times in various competitions this season and scored only 3 goals. For another example, Manchester City signed 22-year-old Argentine Alvarez in the winter window for a transfer fee of 14 million pounds last year. Alvarez scored nine goals in Manchester City’s first 11 games, and his transfer fee was only about one third of Gordon’s. This also shows that the transfer fee paid by Newcastle for Gordon takes into account the nationality of the players.
This is not the first time Everton has enhanced the value of English players. For example, Manchester United signed Rooney for 27 million pounds in 2004, and Manchester City signed Si Tong for 47.5 million pounds in 2016. But at least, Gordon’s transfer shows that the cost of young players in England will increase to a certain extent, and the music department is willing to pay extra fees.