Anthony Gordon was lauded as the ‘best player on the pitch’ as the England winger made his first appearance for Barcelona since completing a £70m transfer.
Barcelona had moved quickly at the end of last season to sign Gordon from Newcastle, with the surprise move completed at the end of May ahead of the World Cup.
The Spanish giants have been forced to wait to see Gordon feature following England’s run to the World Cup semi-finals, with his post-tournament break leading to the 25-year-old starting his pre-season late.
Gordon, however, was quick to make an impression as he featured for the first time in a friendly against Barcelona.
In the opening minutes, Gordon showed his pace as he dribbled past his marker at speed, before firing in a dangerous low cross that neither Eric Garcia nor Raphinha were able to finish.
Operating on the left of Barcelona’s attack, Gordon made several darting dribbles and looked to provide crosses from the byline.
Anthony Gordon made his first appearance in a Barcelona shirt in their friendly against Basel
The £70m summer signing from Newcastle caught the eye during the first half of the match
Gordon’s eye-catching start was nearly capped with a solo goal, with the winger picking the ball up midway through the Basel half and driving goalwards.
The England star forced a slip from the defending full back, before cutting onto his right foot and firing narrowly over the bar.
Barcelona based newspaper Sport declared Gordon had been the Catalans’ ‘best player in attack’ after his ‘very, very active’ appearance.
Another journalist summarised: ‘Great minutes from Gordon in the friendly match between Barça and Basel.
‘The Englishman is increasingly shaking off his marker and has delivered some fine crosses into the box.’
Gordon ultimately only featured in the first half for Barcelona as he works his way back to full fitness in pre-season.
AS reported that Gordon has already convinced Barcelona boss Hansi Flick to give him a starting role despite having only been in training for the past week.
Barcelona fans, however, appeared impressed with Gordon’s performance and were optimistic about his role ahead of the upcoming campaign.
Fellow new signing Karim Adeyemi was on target in Barcelona’s 5-2 victory over Basel
‘Gordon is such a breath of fresh air. He looks so electric and who needed zero adaption. Looking forward to him,’ one said.
‘Barcelona finally has a left winger that takes on defenders one on one Anthony Gordon. What a diamond,’ another said.
A third wrote: ‘Gordon will provide something that Barca has been lacking in recent seasons, a threat on the outside on the left. Also allows us to push the left sided midfielder higher and between the lines.’
LaLiga champions Barcelona had moved for Gordon at the start of the summer, with the club opting against signing fellow England international Marcus Rashford permanently after his loan spell last season.
Gordon had already impressed fans by speaking fluent Spanish at his unveiling, having revealed it had been a childhood dream to play for the Catalan side.
Barcelona earned a 5-2 victory in the friendly with fellow new signing Karim Adeyemi having opened the scoring in the first half.
Hamza Abdelkarim, Lamine Yamal and a brace from Jesse Bisiwu sealed Barcelona’s victory.
