Hated or adored, but never ignored - that has been the tale of the current discourse around the 21-year-old’s move to Tyneside.
The proposed transfer has sparked debate among the Newcastle fan base, which is not necessarily a bad thing, as it reinforces the immense passion their supporters have towards the club.
Yet, so far, fans have accepted and overtly waxed lyrical over most of the decisions their new owners have made in previous transfer windows, but this one has been met with a variety of opinions for and against the Evertonian.
When collating an overall consensus of the feelings surrounding the forward, he is most negatively regarded as a player 'with attitude problems', a 'cheater'.
Although Eddie Howe cannot exactly control the latter, he will undoubtedly have a major influence on nurturing the wingers attitude and curating it to fit in with the club's current ethos.
The former Bournemouth manager once said: “We're not here to be popular. We are here to compete.”
Newcastle have been a master of the dark arts this season, from faking injuries to allow mid-match team talks, nefarious time wasting and perhaps best of all - taunting opposition players off the pitch as they are red carded.
Anthony Gordon, who already possesses an endeavouring attitude, can be assimilated into this culture and mature into a key component of United's 25-man squad.
So, just why is this a great bit of business from Dan Ashworth and Co?
Firstly, you have got to consider English tax, there aren't many 21-year-old's who have as much Premier League experience as Gordon who would be available for under £20-25M.
It was only four months ago Chelsea enquired about the player and were met with a staggering £60M price tag, which at the time, Everton remained extremely frugal on.
So not only have Newcastle knocked £20M off the original asking price, but - as they have done many times already - also agreed on a deal that is partially structured with add-ons. Thus the 'entire' proposed fee may not be fulfilled depending on specific requirements of the deal.
Additionally, Gordon actually wanted to join Newcastle.
He essentially forced the move to St James' Park after missing three days of training and telling Everton he wouldn't be returning to Finch Farm - seemingly showing a clear desire to play for the 3rd placed side.
Finally, he is a near-perfect profile for the new transfer regime of the club.
He is extremely young with an already significant amount of Premier League experience, combined with his clear eagerness to impress - results in a player who will benefit from Howe's mentorship.
The winger has only started once in his last eight games under Frank Lampard, and will be keen to show fans his ability he showed last season when playing a strong role in keeping the Merseyside club up.
What is he like as a player and how will he fit in tactically?
It is safe to say his primary, and most favoured position is on the left-wing.
A place on the pitch where he likes to use his quick burst of acceleration and ability to misdirect defenders with his astute flicks to cut inside, dragging wing-backs out of position.
This directness has been prevalent throughout his career. Prior to making it into Everton's first team, Gordon played for the academy for five years where he was known to score goals outside the box, especially from the left-side of the pitch.
Video credit: Everton Football Club
The Englishman has adapted his attacking movement since his debut back in January 2020, and now also shows a tendency to use his pace and spatial awareness to drag defenders out to the byline, where he creates 1v1's which grants him the opportunity to also cross the ball in or cut back to his teammates.
This would allow Brazillian powerhouse, Joelinton, to drop back into CM - arguably his most effective role.
Although his success is clear from the left-wing position, the 21-year-old is both-footed and has been utilised across the front three, the number 10 role and even in wing-back for Everton.
Versatility is a key attribute that Howe desires in his players with the likes of Alexander Isak, Joe Willock, Bruno Guimarães and Joelinton all been shuffled around this season.
Howe's intense press and pugnacious attitude
We decided to research and compare the amount of successful tackles in the middle third of the pitch, which is the area that Howe enforces his players to win the ball back the most, that Newcastle have made this season against the rest of the league - and how this may improve with the addition of Gordon.
Here were our findings:
Newcastle currently attain the 5th highest successful tackles in the middle third of the pitch, something that does not come as a surprise due to the effectiveness of their current trio.
Yet, despite their credible efforts Howe's central midfielder's can't take full credit in this.
Only Kieran Trippier (18) and Guimaraes (26) have made more successful tackles in the middle third than Miguel Almiron (15) this season - a player that has started every game in the right-wing position.
It can be assumed that Howe will deploy the Evertonian in the left-wing position in his 4-3-3, whether he will make the starting XI following his arrival remains unknown, but the Englishman is ought to make an appearance off the bench, at the very least.
Gordon's resilient attitude and high work-rate can be used as a tool in Howe's high-press system to help Newcastle increase their already successful turnover rate when counter-pressing.
The winger currently boasts 2.45 tackles as well as 1.95 blocks per 90, which consequently place him in the top 3% and top 1% of all attacking midfielders/wingers in the league this season.
Thus, his mentality off the ball fits in with the Newcastle boss' ideologies surrounding work-rate and tailored movement in jockeying and pressing situations, which force the opposition team to make mistakes in their own half.
Gordon's 'potential' golden eye for goal
Despite Newcastle's obvious momentous achievements this season, in recent games they have struggled to be clinical in front of their opponents net.
They have only scored one goal in their last four Premier League matches - that goal occurring within the final minutes of the game - which is unusual for a side third in the league.
They also have seemingly struggled to score in the first half of late and put games to bed from the early stages.
Howe's men have only scored one first half goal in their last eight league matches - despite creating a considerable number of chances each game.
In fact their right-back, Trippier, possesses the highest SCA (shot-creating actions) 5.02 in the team, again - not what you'd expect from a team challenging for the Champions League.
With Miguel Almiron’s purple patch dying out, and Callum Wilson's lethargic performances of late, Newcastle have undoubtedly lacked creativity and prowess in the final third and have relied on record-signing Isak, and Allan Saint-Maximin's contributions from the bench.
Now, are we constructing a deductively valid argument that Gordon is the answer to this, of course not - at least not immediately.
However, with the coaching and nurturing of Howe et al, the ex-Everton winger has a significant amount of potential to mature and develop into a quality Premier League player, for one of the most promising projects in world football.
There was a reason we wrote 'potential' in the title, the £45 million signing who has been recruited to help Newcastle score goals and create more chances currently attains a pretty poor record.
In 76 games the player has managed to net only seven goals, and gain three assists.
Though there are a lot of factors to this, perhaps the biggest one being the club the winger has played for - and their recent struggle to score and win games in the Premier League.
However, this highlights the precise effectiveness of Newcastle's scouting abilities, Dan Ashworth, Steve Nickson and co are certainly not stat chasers.
For example, the club splashed a record-high fee of £60 million to sign Isak from Real Sociedad - a club that plays in a weaker league compared to Gordon.
Last season the Swedish international played 32 games in La Liga, but only managed to accumulate six goals and two assists - hardly glamorous.
Yet despite his thigh injury interrupting his well-anticipated start to first team football, the striker has already managed to put that ratio in the past. The 23-year-old has scored three goals in five games (284 minutes) for the Magpies so far, boasting a 78% shots on target rate that puts him way ahead of all his teammates.
To embroider, although Newcastle's new ownership want to sign players who already play at a decently high level, their focus is all based on potential, the future of the club.
Gordon, who again, we will state is only 21-years-old has a limitless ceiling of growth, his pugnacious attitude will soon become an attribute the fans will love, and his work-rate is as good as any other player on that team.
As for the goals and assists, they will come - it is not like Howe has not already been a part of some of the best individual transformations the Premier League has seen.
Overall, admittedly, the £45 million fee can appear to be a staggering price for a player that is not starting for a team at the bottom of the Premier League.
However, the winger has his entire career ahead of him and has displayed real glimpses of talent in a struggling side whereby he has already accumulated 65 games of experience in the toughest league in the world.
At first he may be no red rose for Geordies, but given the time and the coaching, he can certainly blossom into one of the Premier League's most exciting English talents.