Anthony Michael Gordon, FC Barcelona’s latest most expensive addition of 2026, revealed he wanted to start a book club among the Barcelona players in a recent interview given to the prominent Spanish newspaper El País.
In an interview with Juan.I.Irigoyen, the Barcelona left winger expressed his love for reading and how it has helped him after his shift from Newcastle to Barça.
In reply to a question about whether he wanted to establish a book club, he mentioned that he wanted to start a book club among his teammates at Barça, but he dropped the initiative as the majority of the players are youngsters, and it is a rare occurrence to find footballers who read.
Credit: X (via El Paìs)
In the interview , Anthony also mentioned
“ At Barça, if you’re not intelligent, you’re lost”
He highlighted the importance of adjusting to his €80 million move to Barcelona and how important it was for him to learn Spanish and Catalan, although it was difficult. Furthermore, he added that he believes his personality fits in the 90s better and considers himself an old soul who places much importance on his loved ones too.
Gordon said his introverted off-pitch personality and love for reading contrast strongly with his aggressive play style on the pitch.
“ I belong to another era. I think my personality fits the ’90s better. Today, everyone is obsessed with social media; everything has become materialistic, romance barely exists anymore. I’m not like that; I prefer the past. Since social media arrived, around 2010, I think the world has gone downhill. People focus on things that don’t matter. The only thing that truly matters is at home, with your loved ones.”
It is not the first time Gordon has expressed his love for reading in an interview. Earlier, in his interview with The Overlap, he mentioned that he loves reading and gave his opinion on his mental toughness and his love of books on psychology and sport.
The book that has had the biggest impact on him is “Winning” by Tim Grover. The author is the former trainer of NBA legends Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant. Gordon says:
“That’s an incredible book about mentality and the things you’ve got to go through to really succeed. It’s basically saying you can do everything you feel like you can do and still come up short. But you won’t have regrets then”
Since joining, Gordon has provided five assists in his first six appearances for Barcelona. Gordon also made an appearance off the bench in the Champions League for FC Barcelona when they secured a 5-1 victory over Feyenoord.
On September 6, he achieved the feat of becoming only the third LaLiga player in the 21st century to conjure four assists in his first four league matches after Cesc Fàbregas and Luis Suárez. This was after he provided an assist for Fermín López’s 22nd-minute goal against Valencia CF. Though he has not netted a goal for Barça, hopes are there that he will find his finishing somehow.
Whereas Barça supporters are quite unsatisfied with Gordon’s performance, though he is consistent in giving assists, fans are getting distressed as he was wasteful in the 5-0 win against Valencia and missed multiple big chances to find the net.
Spanish football media has also left a quite unsatisfactory report on Gordon due to his delay in opening a goal account in Barça.
Barca Universal gave Gordon a rating of 6.5: “Once again, Gordon appeared isolated on the flank and relatively distant from the busy buildup through the middle. He did not complete many take-ons and did not produce much end product in terms of crosses“
Football followers have been using this to criticise the winger’s new comment about the importance of reading and mental toughness.
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At the same time, another portion of followers is keen to get more lessons from him about books and mental health. They appreciate Gordon’s stance of standing up to something even though it is unconventional.
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Anthony Gordon’s philosophical thinking has become famous because few people see footballers talking about things like these in depth. Whether he is going to secure that goal and reply to the backlash still remains an open question. Fans are hoping for the best performance from the English winger as he did at Newcastle, in the near future.
