Eddie Howe moves to put fans' minds at ease over 'integral' player after summer of speculation

Eddie Howe has been speaking the media lately and while fans were hoping he would be in full damage control mode, he may have inadvertently stoked the fires on a few things, but there was one thing that the Newcastle United boss was adamant about.

There has been so much speculation over the future of our three biggest stars with the media seemingly desperate for us to sell Bruno Guimaraes, Alexander Isak and Anthony Gordon.

The speculation over Bruno and Isak seems to have subsided mostly, despite a recent half-arsed resurgence over Bruno tied to the possible departure of Kevin De Bruyne at Manchester City.

But it's the future of Anthony Gordon that has dominated the headlines since the mini PSR deadline day fiasco.

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The whole Anthony Gordon saga has been a nightmare

Reports had surfaced that Newcastle had contemplated cashing in on Anthony Gordon who was fancied by Liverpool in a desperate plea to comply with PSR before selling Yankuba Minteh and Elliot Anderson, but ever since then, the media has been liked a dog with a bone and won't let the story go.

There were rumours that Gordon's head had been turned and he'd lost focus out in Germany which is why he wasn't getting any minutes for England. There were fears that Gordon being offered to Liverpool could unsettle him at Newcastle. It was all a bit of a mess in all honesty.

However, Eddie Howe has been asked about Anthony Gordon and his future at the club after all the speculation and the boss was quite positive.

Eddie Howe wants to mutate to welcome back Anthony Gordon

Speaking to the media (via The Boot Room), Howe moved to squash any fears that the club would let Gordon leave this summer.

“I’d welcome Anthony back with three arms if I had them. He’s an integral part of what we’re doing. We’ve had no conversations over the summer where it has been fractious or negative.

“He’s always been the Anthony Gordon who has given absolutely everything to Newcastle and I want to make that clear to all our supporters. Anthony needs a bit of a break but by the time he comes back, he’ll be ready to go.

“He’s such an important player for us. We didn’t want to lose anybody. Why would we want to lose our best players? We fought really hard to make the right decisions but in those last few weeks it was very, very difficult.”

There have been suggestions that Gordon will be given a place in the leadership team at the club, which is down a couple of players with Matt Ritchie and Paul Dummett departing, and the possible exit of Kieran Trippier. Gordon is definitely a future captain, hopefully while still at Newcastle.