'I've seen' - How Anthony Gordon is feeling at Newcastle United after Liverpool bombshell

Fans were left shocked when they heard the Magpies had held talks over selling Gordon - on England duty at the time - to Liverpool when desperately attempting to raise funds before June 30 in order to comply with Premier League Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSR).

However the proposal, which included Joe Gomez coming in the other direction, was taken off the table when United solved their PSR shortfall with the sales of Elliot Anderson and Yankuba Minteh to Nottingham Forest and Brighton & Hove Albion, respectively, for a combined £68million.

Gordon only reported back for pre-season 10 days before the opener against Southampton after being handed extra time off for reaching the Euro 2024 final. It was a frustrating tournament for the winger, who played just three minutes in total.

“The Euros will have been an incredible experience for him,” said Howe. “The first time that he will have been with England for any length of time and Im sure he’ll have learned, seen and experienced a lot from that.

“Sometimes, we all have this vision of the fairytale ending, you go in and help win your country the tournament at the first time, but life is rarely like that. Anthony will have seen a lot and hopefully use that for next time that he’s involved.”

The 23-year-old was named in the starting XI for the 1-0 win over the Saints, despite playing just 45 minutes against Girona eight days earlier in his only pre-season appearance.

Gordon noticeably lacked sharpness, but Howe believes the former Everton man has looked “back to his best” ahead of today’s trip to AFC Bournemouth.

“I’ve seen Anthony come back in a good place,” said Howe when asked if the speculation had affected Gordon. “Especially this past week, he had a really short training period before that first game.

“We put him in as he’s a difference maker, it takes the younger players less time to get up to speed but I think this week he has looked back to his best.”