As you may have heard, Chelsea are interested in signing Anthony Gordon from Everton, and are willing to spend £60m on the England Under-21 international.
According to The Athletic, the 21-year-old is keen to join Thomas Tuchel at Stamford Bridge, as he feels it would boost his chances of going to the World Cup with England in November.
Should the move materialise, Gordon would see exactly why he shouldn’t join Chelsea as soon as he walks into his first training session at Cobham.
What’s the story?
Well, if the Everton No.10 joins Chelsea, he will be teammates with Ross Barkley – a familiar face to the Goodison Park faithful.
The 28-year-old abandoned the Toffees back in January 2018 to join the west Londoners in a £15m deal, although things have gone horribly for the England international at Stamford Bridge.
Barkley is barely used by Tuchel nowadays, making just six Premier League appearances last season, while failing to play a single second of first-team football so far this term.
In truth, Barkley has fizzled out at Chelsea, and his No.8 shirt was even taken from him and given to Mateo Kovacic – he is far from a valued player at Stamford Bridge, and he is now said to be keen on a return to Everton.
Ultimately, that is because Chelsea continue to stockpile talent, a strategy which sees many talented footballers fall to the wayside, either because they are unjustly replaced, or struggle to deal with the fierce competition.
For example, Kai Havertz was signed for £71m in 2020, before Romelu Lukaku arrived for £98m just a year later – both have failed, and Gordon would be naive to think the same won’t happen to him.
Everton can do a deal with Chelsea
In our view, Frank Lampard can get the better of Chelsea in this deal.
Everton should tell Tuchel he is welcome to Gordon, on the basis that one of Armando Broja, Callum Hudson-Odoi or Conor Gallagher is included in the agreement.
A player-plus-cash deal involving one of the three – if not two of them (all would be highly unlikely) – would see the Toffees make some money, while also saving them the trouble of going out to find a replacement.
Keep an eye on the situation, as Gordon is currently pushing to join Chelsea.
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