Howe insists Gordon ‘committed’ to Newcastle amid Bayern talks
Speaking at his pre-match press conference ahead of Sunday’s trip to Nottingham Forest, Howe refused to comment on the situation. “No, none. That is not something I’m involved in,” he said.
The Newcastle boss had previously stated that only players who are “100 per cent” committed to the club would play. Gordon missed the defeats to Bournemouth and Arsenal with a hip flexor injury and was an unused substitute in the win over Brighton last weekend.
“Those comments weren’t related to Anthony Gordon, they were general and I like to think I’ve been consistent with that in my time as manager here and that’s not going to change now.”
Asked if the 25-year-old, who has a contract until 2030, is fully committed to Newcastle, Howe responded: “Yeah, he wouldn’t be in the squad if that wasn’t the case.
“As I said many times, I don’t judge that on communications elsewhere, I do that with my relationship with the player and how I see them train.
“I will do what is right for the team and best for the football club.
“I think it’s difficult for me to comment too much on individual players and timescales and all that stuff because that’s going into an area that isn’t really my forte, so I’ll leave that to other people.
“All I am looking to do is trying to finish this season with this squad in a really strong way and for the players be committed to what they’re doing right here, right now. There is no point looking too far into the future.
“The summer transfer window is difficult to predict on any level. We have three big games to play and we need to focus on them.”
