'Really thankful': Anthony Gordon heaps praise on Newcastle man who he feels has shaped his career

Anthony Gordon signed for Newcastle United in January 2023 from Everton but his career on Tyneside got off to a slow start.

Following his £45million mid-season move from the Toffees to the Magpies, Anthony Gordon's form in the latter half of the season did little to justify the price Newcastle paid for the young winger.

There was even an incident when his attitude was brought into question following a touchline scuffle with manager Eddie Howe after he was substituted.

Football fans were already acutely aware of Gordon's temperament and seeing it on full display in blatant disrespect of the manager had a lot of people questioning if Newcastle had made the right move.

The incident at Brentford could have ended up very differently if handled incorrectly

That incident was brushed aside very quickly by Eddie Howe and Gordon continued to play a part in Newcastle's assault on the Premier League's top four.

With that moment firmly in the rear-view mirror, Gordon has gone from strength to strength this season, building on an impressive tournament with the England U21s where Gordon helped the Young Lions lift the trophy while bagging himself some personal glory in the form of the Player of the Tournament award.

Now, as a reward for his efforts for Newcastle this season, Gareth Southgate has called up the 24-year-old to the England side for the upcoming friendlies against Brazil and Belgium which now puts him in contention of travelling to the Euro 2024 tournament in Germany.

Anthony Gordon is glad Eddie Howe was his manager after his outburst

Speaking to the media from the England camp, Anthony Gordon was quick to praise Eddie Howe for helping along one his career and getting him to this point. He also addressed the aforementioned incident at Brentford and how that was handled.

"I think it's just him understanding me and his man-management is at a really good level. At that time (of the Brentford incident) I'm a young lad and I think he just understood what I needed at the time.

"I'm really passionate, and he's the same, he's so determined as a person, so I think he could see that fire in me, which is not a bad thing, it just needs some guidance, especially at a young age. He was the right man to guide me so I'm really thankful that he was my manager at that time.

"He's guided me into being a much more mature, level-headed person but also keeping that fire and keeping that motivation."

Whatever was said between them clearly worked as we've not seen that Anthony Gordon rear his head ever since.