Anthony Gordon has been in scintillating form at Newcastle United during their recent run of victories. The winger has regained his best performances after a slow start to the season.

Gordon, who was part of England's Euro 2024 campaign, took some time to adjust after returning in the summer. His mood wasn't helped by struggling to get Gareth Southgate to give him game time at the championships, nor by the potential move to his boyhood club Liverpool. With Newcastle needing to cash in on a couple of players to meet PSR regulations, it seemed that a move was on for their player of the season.

In the end, United raised the money needed through the sales of Yankuba Minteh to Brighton and homegrown star Elliot Anderson, who joined Nottingham Forest for £35million. The departure of the latter, however, was another blow for Gordon.

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Gordon had built up a strong friendship with Anderson since his arrival from Everton. The two players had become best friends, and were beginning to strike up a relationship on the left side for Newcastle as well. When asked by Gary Neville on The Overlap podcast who his best pals are in football, Gordon admitted: “I’d say I’ve got three. Curtis Jones, Tommy Doyle, Elliot Anderson. Mixed bag there. Some club, some international.”

“He’s a top player,” he added on Anderson. “He is just as a young player finding his feet in the games. He’s been top in training for a while, but he’s just finding his feet.”

That friendship has continued despite Anderson's departure to Forest. When he left his boyhood club, where he had been since he was eight, Anderson wrote an emotional post on Instagram, to which Gordon replied simply saying: “Gunna miss you lad.”

And now, seven months on, the two players took to Instagram again. Anderson has since been one of the stars for Forest this season as the surprise package challenge for a Champions League spot, and finally scored his first Premier League goal on Sunday during his side’s 3-2 win over Southampton. The midfielder burst forward before rifling home a 22-yard effort to give Forest the lead.

It was his first goal in more than 60 Premier League appearances. After the game, the Whitley Bay-raised player took to social media to captain a number of images with: “First Premier League goal! And another massive win.”

Gordon was one of the first to respond, cheekily replying: "It's about time."

Sunday's league fixtures reminded Newcastle fans of what they are missing out on, not only from Anderson but also Minteh. The right-winger has been a hit for Brighton this season and showed his potential again with a starring role in their win at Old Trafford, scoring the first goal in a 3-1 win over Manchester United.

It will have been particularly painful for United manager Eddie Howe who admitted he didn't want to let either player go. Newcastle's scramble to sell the duo meant they avoided a breach of PSR regulations and a potential points deduction, but losing two young stars was a bitter pill to swallow.

“In my opinion, it was absolutely the right thing to do, but it still hurts to have done it,” said the Newcastle boss. “We had no other option, and no matter what the narrative is in the future, regardless of how Elliot or Yankuba do, it was still the right thing in my opinion, for the benefit of Newcastle.

“We couldn’t breach PSR, couldn’t face a points deduction, and the only two deals we had on the table at that time were the two deals that we did."