'It was difficult...' - Newcastle United's Anthony Gordon hits back at Everton following bitter 2023 exit

Former Everton attacker Anthony Gordon has revealed how he felt during the process of leaving the club for Newcastle United in January 2023.

Gordon originally submitted a transfer request to leave the club and the Magpies coughed up £40m (a fee that could rise to £45m) to sign the attacking winger. Having graduated from Everton’s youth academy, as well as being a native scouser, his exit was poorly received as a heartfelt message on social media was peppered with negative comments from angry Evertonians who made their feelings clear.

At the time of his exit, the statement from the club echoed the fans response as it was just three sentences long and it also failed to wish him well for the future in any way. Speaking on the Overlap with Gary Neville, the pair discussed his exit and the feelings from the club and the fans at that time in what was a bitter exit. Neville began: “How it ended, didn’t have to be like that. The statement… I don’t even know what you would call the statement they put out?

Gordon replied: “A lot of what you see in the media [from Everton] is club-driven and I didn’t care too much to change the perspective, because I’m very comfortable in myself and how it ended up, and ultimately, I got what I wanted. I joined Newcastle.

“I did want to leave, but also, the club did have to sell me. The way it played out was that I was desperate to leave and that was never really the case. I just wanted to fulfill my ambitions. But I was never bothered about wanting to change people’s minds, if they believe what they read, it’s fine by me.”

Continuing on the topic of leaving Everton, the academy graduate, who played 78 times for the club, revealed he chose to leave to get to the next level but leaving Everton was difficult. “The whole process [of leaving Everton for Newcastle United] was difficult. You said I am mentally strong and I think that has played a massive part of me being who I am now.

“I am very thankful but it was so hard at the time. Liverpool’s biggest unity is everyone being together, Scousers looking after Scousers. And for someone to leave that environment, nobody is going to like it, and rightly so, but ultimately, I am too ambitious to turn down the opportunity which was presented to me.

“Newcastle United were only going one way and looking from the outside they were flying, I think they were fourth when I was signing, so it’s a no brainer. My ambition is to be at the very top of football and I couldn’t do that where I was.”