Newcastle United may have unearthed their own ‘starboy’ who’s ranking among Europe’s top ten talents so far this season, rubbing shoulders with the likes of Bukayo Saka and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia. The Magpies player in question? Anthony Gordon.
That won’t come as a surprise to anyone who’s watched the England youth international since the summer, with Gordon one of the standout performer’s for Eddie Howe’s side. After winning player of the tournament with the Three Lions in the UEFA U21s European Championships, the winger returned to Tyneside for pre-season and has carrier on where he left off with Lee Carsley’s side.
After a tough start to life at St James’ Park, Gordon looks to be worth every bit of the reported £45million fee paid to Everton in January. According to Football Observatory, the Newcastle United winger ranks eighth in Europe for the best dribblers under the age of 23.
Barcelona’s next big talent Lamine Yamal tops the list, with Arsenal’s Gabriel Martinelli in second and Luca Koleosho of Burnley in third. Napoli’s Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, who was linked with a move to Newcastle in the summer, is in fourth and Girona’s Sávio Moreira is in fifth.
Real Sociedad youngster Takefusa Kubo is in sixth while Arsenal’s Buyako Saka is in seventh. Gordon is just behind the England international in the rankings.
The standings, which are put together with data from Wyscout calculates the frequency of successful dribbles in domestic league matches, the success rate of dribbles attempted, as well as the sporting level of the matches played (as a percentage deviation from the overall average) and only include footballers who played at least 450 domestic league minutes in current season.
In terms of percentage of successful dribbles completed, Gordon ranks second in Europe with a 67 per cent succession rate, behind Lazar Samardzic of Udinese – who ranks lower in the overall list given his match level is lower.
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