Newcastle could regret losing the £15million ace, who is now playing better than Gordon

Newcastle United went into the international break winless in their last three Premier League games, with Eddie Howe cursing his side’s luck in their recent 0-0 draw at Everton.

The story of the game could have been different if Anthony Gordon had managed to hold his nerve from the penalty spot against his former club, but a chorus of taunts from Toffees supporters ultimately got the better of the Magpies star as Jordan Pickford was successful in saving his weak penalty.

However, Gordon doesn’t want this to be his undoing after the Newcastle number ten has had a successful personal season so far without this blunder at Goodison Park.

Gordon’s form for Newcastle

Prior to this stalemate away from home, Gordon had scored his side’s only goal against Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City, giving him two goals this season.

When the homegrown Toffees product actually left the comforts of home on Merseyside in 2023 and the Magpies splashed out a hefty £45m raised eyebrows, but he now arguably justifies that exorbitant sum.

In total, the England international has scored 15 goals and 11 assists for Howe’s men, with 23 of those goal contributions coming last season when the left winger was launched for his new employer.

Gordon will aim to match – or even improve upon – those numbers next season, while putting the disappointment of missing a penalty to the back of his mind.

But while he has started this season promisingly away from the Everton game, there is one former Magpies bloke who is currently outperforming him and who Newcastle fans would definitely have forgotten.

How Florian Thauvin will appear in 2024

Aside from winning gold with players like Yohan Cabaye, Newcastle have a history of slip-ups when it comes to purchases from France and Florian Thauvin is certainly one of the idiots when he arrived from Olympique de Marseille in 2015.

Thauvin cost £15 million to get through the door, which ultimately turned out to be a colossal waste of money, with the French star making just 16 appearances in total for the Magpies in a forgettable season and only having one goal and three assists to show for his efforts.

Now, however, Thauvin has managed to find a black and white jersey that fits more comfortably, with Udinese having scored three goals and one assist in six Serie A games so far this season.

The Frenchman now even wears the captain’s armband for his Italian employers. The 31-year-old can now put his nightmare in England behind him without hesitation as he instead continues to be a consistent hero for Giampaolo Pozzo’s team.

He even scored another goal and two assists in the cup for Udinese in the 2024/25 season, and his impressive form certainly sees him living up to the “great” billing once bestowed upon him by football journalist Josh Bunting, as Thauvin initially again bounced back from his terrible Magpies spell when he returned to play for Marseille.

Thauvin could arguably be useful to Howe’s troops now if he were theoretically back at St James’ Park, considering the Magpies boss doesn’t have an overwhelming amount of options to fall back on on the right wing, with Jacob Murphy and Miguel Almiron being his two most important decisions despite a lack of squad depth.

Howe will at least be grateful to have Gordon at his disposal on the opposite side, with the former Toffees youngster still looking to secure a starting place for Newcastle this season and perhaps he could improve his goal and assist tally by the end of the season included.