Newcastle United are reportedly willing to make Anthony Gordon their highest earner amid interest from Liverpool and Arsenal.
Gordon was linked with a move to Liverpool over the summer after Newcastle offered their Premier League rivals the chance to sign him.
The Magpies were desperate to raise funds in June and were open to offloading the attacker to avoid a financial breach.
It never came to that in the end as Eddie Howe’s side raised £65million through the sales of Elliot Anderson to Nottingham Forest and Yankuba Minteh to Brighton.
Speculation did not go away in July and August, with some reports suggesting that Gordon’s head had been turned by the prospect of playing for Liverpool.
Arsenal have also been linked with the former Everton youngster and could make their move in the 2025 summer transfer window.
Newcastle would surely demand over £80m for Gordon – who they signed from the Toffees for £45m in January 2023 – if their rivals come calling next year.
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Their ‘top priority’ at this moment in time, though, is to agree a new long-term contract with the 23-year-old, according to the Daily Mail.
It is claimed that Newcastle ‘will offer to make Gordon their highest earner’ on a contract worth around £9m a season.
This is part of their plan to ‘convince’ him to stay at the club and ‘preliminary talks’ are underway.
Gordon is expected to ‘eclipse’ Bruno Guimaraes as the Magpies’ top earner if he agrees to sign an extension. Guimaraes reportedly earns ‘around £160,000 a week’.
Liverpool’s ‘concrete interest’ is mentioned in the report, while it is claimed that ‘Arsenal are monitoring the winger’s situation very closely’.
Both will be monitoring Gordon’s contract situation as ‘Newcastle may consider selling him next summer’ if a new contract is not agreed.
Failure to agree a new deal at St James’ Park will surely put Mikel Arteta and Arne Slot on red alert, especially as the England international ‘was open to leaving for a Champions League side during the summer’.
Newcastle are unbeaten in the Premier League after four games despite being pretty underwhelming on the pitch.
They came from behind to win at Wolves on Sunday to make it 10 points from a possible 12.
Next up for Howe’s men is Marco Silva’s Fulham at Craven Cottage.
Howe made three changes at half time against Wolves, bringing on Harvey Barnes, Sandro Tonali and Joe Willock.
After the comeback win at Molineux, the Newcastle boss urged his players to earn a place in his starting XI.
“I think we had a few players who would have been disappointed not to start,” he said.
“The most important thing is the players respond in the right way and their best chance of playing n the next game is how they play on the pitch.
“With the strength of the bench we need the pressure on the players knowing if they don’t perform they wont play.
“That’s a healthy dynamic as long as the players handle it in in the right way. I’m confident we can get the dynamic – but that doesn’t guarantee you results.
“One or two injuries and we are back where we were last year and we don’t have the ability to make the changes we want to.”
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