![](\"https:\/\/static.independent.co.uk\/2023\/11\/05\/13\/GettyImages-1774857938%20%281%29.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
On current form, he might be. That may not surprise Thomas Tuchel, who wanted to sign Gordon for Chelsea in 2022, but represents swift progress nonetheless, albeit from a man who does everything at speed. Gordon began the season in a job-share with Harvey Barnes on the left flank. Now he is indispensable there and Plan C in the middle which, with Alexander Isak injured and Wilson rarely playing 90 minutes, can give him the most iconic of duties on Tyneside: being Newcastle\u2019s centre forward.<\/p>\n
There is a question if Gordon can keep on running; he has never started more than 30 club games in a season and is already up to 13 now. \u201cI\u2019m maxed out but I do feel good,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m not complaining.\u201d Rather, he is grasping an opportunity. \u201cI can\u2019t praise him enough,\u201d Howe added. \u201cAfter a difficult first few months at the club, where he was keen to show his qualities, he was patient and learned how we play and now he is reaping the rewards.\u201d<\/p>\n
One came in the form of a tap-in against Arsenal, equalling his career-best tally of four goals in a season. It was a curiosity when Gordon said: \u201cI used to be obsessed with goals and assists.\u201d Yet they were never his forte. He only scored seven times in 78 games for Everton; even then, three of his four goals in 2021-22 were deflected. He scarcely seems the most clinical of finishers. If the next step is to add more goals, Gordon has a nuisance value that means he is irrepressible. It has made him central, in more ways than one.<\/p>\n