Newcastle United have started to process of replacing Anthony Gordon, whom they agreed to sell to Barcelona earlier this week. Notably, they could go for a player that would allow the Catalans recover some of the €80m they are spending on the England international winger.
According to MD, the Premier League side have set their sights on replacing Gordon with Ez Abde. The 24-year-old, who is off the back of the best season in his career to date, had previously attracted interest from Barcelona prior to their move for Gordon, but he could now be heading to St James’ Park.
And were Newcastle to complete a deal for Abde, it would leave Barcelona in line to receive as much as €12m. Real Betis have a €60m release clause in the Morocco international’s contract, and were that to be activated, the Catalans would receive 20% of the fee, as per the latest terms of their agreement to sell him to Los Verdiblancos in 2023.
The likelihood is that Newcastle would try to avoid paying as much as €60m for Abde, although Betis are unlikely to be willing to negotiate the sale of one of their star players. Barcelona will certainly hoping they hold out, as it would theoretically mean that a deal for Gordon would only cost €68m, rather than €80m.
Barcelona could get more if Betis sign Abde replacement
But even if Newcastle do manage to sign Abde, the domino effect for Barcelona would not stop there. The report has noted that Betis would seek a deal for Jan Virgili if their winger moves on, and the Catalans have an active 40% sell-on clause for the Mallorca man, who can be signed for €12m as part of a relegation release clause that went live earlier this week.
Barcelona would certainly love it if Newcastle signed Abde and Betis landed Virgili as his replacement, but that being a reality is far away right now.
