Newcastle United's Anthony Gordon believes a decent run of games at the Under-21 European Championships will help him impress for the Magpies next season. The winger hasn't enjoyed the brightest of starts to his career on Tyneside but is currently flourishing for England's U21 side in Georgia and Romania this summer.
Gordon helped himself to an assist and a disallowed goal in the opening game against the Czech Republic before finding the net against Israel over the weekend. The £40m Newcastle signing is currently being used as a central striker under international boss Lee Carsley and looks at home in the role.
The St James' Park faithful are hoping Gordon can transfer his international form to club duty when the new season rolls back around and the 22-year-old is confident his current run will help him once he returns to Tyneside.
"I was not feeling fit enough during games for Newcastle, with the way we play and the way the manger wants us to play, which is so intense," Gordon said this week.
"I felt like I could use this tournament to really push myself to go back into a really good place. I’m still getting tired around 70-75 minutes so I feel like the longer the tournament goes on, I’ll feel better and fitter."
Gordon has already proven to be a versatile option for Eddie Howe and impressed playing in a central midfield role in the season finale at Chelsea. The former Everton man usually starts on the left but England U21 boss Carsley sees the youngster as his ideal centre-forward option for the foreseeable future.
"I see that we’ve got a lot of players within this squad that can do different roles. Part of the squad selection was having that flexibility to play with a different kind of nine (striker)," Carsley said.
"I see pretty much any of the forward players, whether they’re wide players or forwards, being able to do that nine. You get a different type of nine with Anthony than you would with Cole (Palmer) or Curtis (Jones) or Emile (Smith Rowe). We’ve got plenty of options."
