Alan Shearer has warned Arsenal they will likely need to pay Newcastle United a club-record fee if they want to sign Anthony Gordon this summer.
With the Magpies looking destined to miss out on Champions League qualification, the financial ramifications of being absent from Europe’s elite club competition are already beginning to set in.
A host of Newcastle’s best players have already been linked with moves away in the summer with midfield duo Sandro Tonali and Bruno Guimaraes attracting significant interest.
Italy international Tonali was rumoured to be interesting Arsenal on the final day of the January transfer window, while teammate Tino Livramento is also said to have an admirer in Mikel Arteta.
The England full-back is valued at £60million by Newcastle but Shearer believes it would take almost double that to prise Gordon from St James’ Park.
Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard have been the two wingers used by Mikel Arteta on Arsenal’s left wing over the course of the last three seasons but change could well be brewing.
Should Arsenal want to pursue interest in Gordon, however, Shearer has told the north London club it would take more than the £105million they paid for Declan Rice three years ago.
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He told Betfair: ‘Well, it is quite funny because if you believe every rumour, Tino Livramento’s been linked, Lewis Hall’s been linked, Sandro Tonali has been linked, and Bruno has been linked alongside Anthony Gordon.
‘I mean, if every player leaves that’s been linked with a move, Newcastle won’t have any players left. It always happens more in the international break.
‘With all the columns, newspapers and with social media now, I guess it’s a lot worse than it perhaps was. I guess, again, because of what’s happened with Newcastle, clubs are going to try and come in and poach them if they don’t qualify for Europe, which clearly doesn’t look like they’re going to unless they go on a remarkable run.
‘It’ll be an interesting summer. I do think that clubs will come in for players and Newcastle will have to stand firm.
‘It seemed a lot of money at the time when Newcastle signed Gordon. But I guess you’d have to start, if you’re talking about an England international forward who’s got a really good chance of starting for England, then you’d have to probably get over £100 million to have a chance of signing Gordon.’
Newcastle, of course, have been in this position before and were eventually forced to part company with Alexander Isak in the summer after the Sweden international forced a move to Liverpool after going on strike.
Eddie Howe invested a significant portion of that transfer fee on Nick Woltemade but after a bright start the former Stuttgart centre forward has found the going tough.
‘I think it’s really early for Newcastle to sell Nick Woltemade,’ added Shearer. ‘There’s no doubt there’s talent in there. We saw that when he first arrived but for whatever reason, and I guess there are multiple reasons.
‘It’s not just playing him in midfield because at times he did look laboured and slow. At times the pace, power and energy of the Premier League looked a little bit too much for him. But there’s no doubt there’s talent and ability in there.
‘I guess it’s just about trying to get that out of him in whatever position because at the minute he hasn’t suited Newcastle and Newcastle hasn’t suited him particularly.
‘He did have a good start but we haven’t seen a lot of that, and he will say because he’s been played out of position that he hasn’t been at his best and I totally understand that and get that.
‘I guess he’s been a victim of what’s happened at Newcastle this season, unfortunately for him.’
