Newcastle teenager who is ‘like Mbappe’ could take Gordon’s No.10 shirt

Newcastle United have the welcome distraction of the Champions League in midweek.

In Europe’s elite competition, the Magpies are two wins out of three, with eight goals to their name. On the other hand, Eddie Howe’s men are experiencing big difficulties in the Premier League.

Their horrendous form has only seen them pick up three wins out of ten, leading Toon icon Alan Shearer to brand the current situation as “rotten”.

Although they are now without Alexander Isak, a number of their key established players are yet to really fire, including the out-of-form Anthony Gordon.

Why Anthony Gordon is becoming a problem for Newcastle

Gordon’s topsy-turvy form sums up Newcastle’s current predicament in a nutshell.

Indeed, the England international has scored four goals in the Champions League this season and has looked at home on the biggest of club stages. Three Lions boss Thomas Tuchel even selected him to start regularly this season.

That said, domestically it has experienced a form of horror dating back to 2024/25. To date, he has scored no goals and had one assist next to his name in seven Premier League outings. He also only created two big chances during these meetings.

Usually so creative, so dynamic and so fluid, the winger’s form has completely abandoned him in the top flight.

There is a sense of blandness in the air regarding Newcastle stalwarts, such as the former Everton striker, as they continue to underperform, with Howe perhaps now ready to watch young starlets rise through the ranks at St James’ Park to solve a number of his problems.

How Newcastle could solve their Gordon problem

So far this season, Howe has introduced Lewis Miley into the first team here and there to freshen things up centrally, with the local wonderkid still only 19 years old.

This surely bodes well for Sean Neave, who continues to tear up Premier League 2 with his goalscoring prowess. The Newcastle-born teenager has scored 29 goals for many different youth teams, but a senior shot still eludes him.

Alfie Harrison – who was previously on the books of Manchester City – is also hoping for a senior opportunity soon, with the tricky 19-year-old maverick having already bagged four assists for the season in Premier League 2, as he continues to stand out as a dynamic Gordon-like talent.

Yet another youngster is catching Howe’s eye and could really disrupt Gordon’s first-team security, with the 18-year-old in question even being widely compared to Kylian Mbappe.

Indeed, the time now seems right to introduce the much-loved Seung Soo-Park into first-team football.

Having joined the Magpies’ academy ranks from South Korean side Suwon Bluewings earlier this year, with plenty of hype attached to his name, he looks ready and eager to make an impact under Howe’s wing.

Park would go on to become the youngest player in Korean league football history when he made his senior debut for Suwon, with a goal and two assists in Korean League 2 action, even leading his Suwon head coach Byun Sung-hwan to praise him as having the “ability to go all the way up” with his front-foot approach on the left wing.

Further hailed as being “Kylian Mbappe-like” by Asian football expert John Duerden for his speed and deft approach on the flanks, the hope will be that Park can explode onto the senior scene much like the world-class Frenchman managed, with promising performances to come for Howe and Co in pre-season.

Against Espanyol, Park finished his brilliant 63-minute stint with three out of four dribbles, leading journalist Charlie Bennett to hail him as a South Korean “real find”.

While Park continues to impress behind the scenes – with two assists also next to his name in the Magpies’ youth set-up this season – Gordon is thrust into a crisis moment in the Premier League, with his lackluster performance against West Ham culminating in Howe bringing him off at half-time.

The aforementioned Bennett even said at the end of the Hammers’ defeat that Gordon was “not unstoppable” – and with Anthony Elanga still without a league goal or assist after a bumper £55million move – Park could well be the original answer to their troubling woes.

Gordon may be in possession of the number 10 jersey right now, but this budding Newcastle prodigy looks set to begin his rise to stardom and snatch it away in the years to come.