Updated: 4 Jul 2026 12:36 BST |
5 min read
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Barcelona’s signing of Newcastle winger Anthony Gordon has come under scrutiny in Spain for being much more expensive than initially thought.
Prior to this week, the England international’s surprising transfer to Catalunya stood as the largest deal of the summer. In order to beat Bayern Munich and Premier League suitors to the signing of Gordon, Barcelona shelled out a reported €80 million fee.
This week, two major transfers have overtaken this deal, with Tottenham splurging €99m on West Ham midfielder Mateus Fernandes and Man City shattering their club record to sign Elliot Anderson from Nottingham Forest for €135m.
Nevertheless, the Gordon deal remains one of the most eye-catching transfers of the summer, not least because it pretty much came out of nowhere. For weeks, it seemed as though the 25-year-old would be on his way to Bayern.
However, the Bavarians baulked at Newcastle’s asking price, which allowed Barcelona to swoop in. It was the first major deal of the LaLiga champions’ unexpected summer transfer offensive following their return to the vaunted 1:1 rule.
Gordon to Barcelona: More expensive than expected?
People were taken aback by the fact that Barcelona were suddenly able and willing to spend €80m on a player after having to pinch pennies for years. Moreover, at the time of the move, they were still haggling with Man Utd over a fee for Marcus Rashford because they were not prepared to pay €30m for him.
The Blaugrana have since made an unsuccessful €100m bid for Atletico Madrid striker Julian Alvarez, and they remain hopeful of striking a deal. Atleti, meanwhile, insist that his €500m release clause must be triggered, but even the nouveau riche Barcelona aren’t paying that.
Transfer fees are always a contentious topic because they are generally not publicly disclosed. Most of the time we only get a vague idea of the money spent on players due to claims in the media, financial reports or chatty club directors.
The numbers leaked to the press aren’t always 100% accurate. Sometimes clubs want to make themselves look better by claiming they received more money for a player or paid less, so they deliberately share inaccurate figures with the media.
At other times, the numbers involved are imprecise because of the complicated nature of contracts and transfer agreements, with potential bonus payments often altering the final fee.
A controversy has now erupted in Spain because it has been claimed on radio station RAC 1 that the cost of Gordon will be much higher than initially reported due to the agent commission involved, which isn’t usually publicly declared.
Exorbitant agent fees are nothing out of the ordinary in this day and age – Chelsea spent around €76m between February 2025 and 2026 – but Spanish outlet La Razon, after consulting Futbolfinanzas, claims that the commission for Gordon was unusually high.
A whopping €24m was allegedly paid out to various intermediaries. It is estimated that this figure alone makes up roughly 34% of the overall transfer cost, which is “a high percentage even for the current market,” the publication claims.
This suddenly turns an €80m player into a €100m player and raises eyebrows, particularly in the context of Barcelona’s long-time financial struggles and their desire to complete more major deals.
And this €104m figure does not even include the salary Gordon will receive over the course of his five-year contract. Moreover, agent commissions are not amortised, unlike transfer fees, meaning that in the first year, Barcelona will pay more (€24m) for Gordon’s representatives than the player himself (€16m).
The pressure on Gordon to live up to his price tag will be enormous.
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