Newcastle news: Howe urges Gordon to stay ‘fully focused’ after Arsenal talk

Head coach Eddie Howe has urged Anthony Gordon to stay “fully focused” after the Newcastle United forward was linked with a move to Arsenal.

Gordon is the latest key figure at the club to have been subject of reported interest elsewhere.

This is despite the England international dismissing such talk as “a load of rubbish” in an interview with reporters just last week.

Newcastle sold Alexander Isak to Liverpool for a British record £125m fee last summer – after the Swede went on strike – and Howe was asked how he could avoid a repeat of a similar saga.

“I’m not sure there’s a lot I can do about that,” he said. “I’ve not seen the story, so it’s news to me.

“But we’re mid-season, we’re in the middle of some of the biggest games of his career, and who knows what’s going to happen internationally with Anthony in the summer as well.

“He’s not got time to look left or right. He’s got to be fully focused on straight ahead and the next game, and trying to be as good as he can be.”

Gordon, Sandro Tonali and Tino Livramento are just some of the Newcastle players who have been touted with moves away in the media in recent months.

But Howe said it comes with the territory.

“It’s your industry that is creating those stories,” he added. “I’m slightly secluded from it.

“If you don’t read it you don’t know who has been linked to who. Is it not just part of modern day football that everyone is just linked with moves these days, not just Newcastle players, but potentially a lot of other clubs have the same issues.

“It’s irrelevant really. It’s how the players react to that. If they absorb it and it affects them, then that’s a negative. But i think our players are robust enough to ignore it.”