Newly announced Barcelona signing relieved to have his future resolved before the World Cup: ‘I have to thank..’

With the World Cup kicking off in a few days, national teams across the world are preparing for the event with their final friendly fixtures before the tournament.

England took on New Zealand on Saturday in their first of two organised friendlies and came out as 1-0 victors – a scoreline that does not do justice to the greatness in their squad.

gordon/" target="_blank">Newly announced Barcelona star Anthony Gordon replaced Marcus Rashford for the second half of the game and did a decent job, albeit nothing flashy.

Gordon speaks about his move

Speaking to the media(h/t FCBWorld) after the game, the winger was asked how it felt to enter the national team dressing room as a Barcelona player for the first time.

“Amazing feeling, not bad at all. I’m really happy, it was an incredible week,” he began.

“Being a Barcelona player was a childhood dream, and now I really have to play and win everything with them,” he added.

Anthony Gordon is a new Barcelona player. (Picture credit: X/@FCBarcelona)

Gordon was then quizzed on how Barcelona’s name suddenly popped out of the mix and how the transfer unfolded given that he was closely linked to Bayern Munich.

“It came at a very late time, but once I knew about Barcelona’s interest, I had absolutely no doubt at all – Barcelona is the biggest club in the world in my eyes.”

The former Newcastle United star was then asked about his performance in the hot conditions against New Zealand, to which he said,

“Ugh, it was tough, I can’t hide that. I wanted to say it was easy, but it was really tough.”

“I enjoyed it completely, and it was a good test, and it’s great to be back with the team and reintegrating into this rhythm again, and regaining the harmony and cohesion with the players, but the weather was hot,” he added.

Gordon is pleased his future is resolved

Finally, the player was asked about how it felt to have his future settled before the beginning of the FIFA World Cup, to which he did not hide his happiness and relief.

“It’s an unbelievable scenario, and I have to thank Newcastle and Barcelona because both were fantastic with me, they both worked for me and took great care of me throughout the process to finalize the deal.”

Gordon in action against Barcelona last season. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)

Elaborating on how he had a previous experience of battling a transfer agreement during a major international tournament, Gordon said,

“Because in the previous Euros, I was living through the details of other transfer rumors, and that was really tough and I couldn’t fully get it out of my mind.”

“So I have to thank both clubs, and as I said, I’m truly grateful that the matter has been resolved,” he added.