Everton and Anthony Gordon should know what needs to happen amid Tottenham transfer links

Football works in strange ways. There’s no correct pathway, no uncomplicated trajectory that is followed.

Precocious talents tipped for the very top can see their careers swiftly jettison. Unearthed gems who’ve had to do things the hard way can work their way to the top.

Indeed, there are no straight lines. Just ask Anthony Gordon that.

Granted, the Everton winger hasn’t exactly had the most unconventional route so far. He’s been at his boyhood club since he was 11.

But that doesn’t mean he hasn’t had his setbacks.

This time 12 months ago, the winger was heading into pre-season after enduring a difficult loan spell at Preston North End.

Gordon made just 11 outings during the second half of 2020-21, five of which were starts, and did not play after 10 April.

Yet fast-forward a year and it’s the Champions League, rather than the Championship, which is getting talked about for Gordon.

He’s the subject of interest from Tottenham Hotspur.

The 21-year-old made rampant, unpredictable progress for the Toffees in 2021-22. He transformed himself into a talismanic figure during a rollercoaster of a campaign that saw Everton embroiled in a Premier League relegation battle.

While some senior players, brought in for tens of millions of pounds’ attitudes were questions, Gordon’s wasn’t.

Despite his tender age, despite his first year playing regular senior football, he took up the mantle impeccably and led by example.

At times, it was as if he hauled the burden and responsibility onto his shoulders single-handedly.

A breakthrough campaign saw him win an array of plaudits as Frank Lampard’s side indeed kept their proud top-flight status intact.

Gordon was awarded Players’ Player of the Year and Fans’ Player of the Year for his contributions, having made 40 appearances.

And his efforts have caught admiring glances from Tottenham. Gordon, along with Goodison Park team-mate Richarlison is supposedly wanted by Antonio Conte as he prepares to lead Spurs back into the Champions League.

It’s a ringing endorsement that Gordon is coveted by Conte as he plots his Spurs revolution.

Amid financial problems, Everton could net a sizeable fee to alleviate fears if they wished.

But, in truth, if Gordon is going to sign a contract, it should be a fresh one on Merseyside.

The academy product has three years left on his current deal, having put pen to paper on a five-year contract in 2020. That underlines he’s long been valued by the club.

Yet he’s now a regular starter, a key member of Lampard’s squad. While he’s not money-hungry, everyone likes to be rewarded.

In addition, Gordon is still not the finished article.

While he finished with a respectable four goals and three assists last season, he admittedly knows that his end product needs to improve.

Under the tutelage of Lampard, who is a huge admirer and heaped praise on the wide man umpteen times, Gordon will be afforded patience to hone his craft.

What’s more, he can be at the fulcrum of a Goodison rebuild under Lampard and director of football Kevin Thelwell.

Gordon already is, and can continue to be, the paragon of what Everton want from their academy; players with the right blend of talent, work ethic and humility.

Having been linked with Arsenal and Bayern Munich in the past, Tottenham may not be the only potential suitors keeping tabs on Gordon.

By tying him down to a new contract, Everton can send an emphatic message to those admirers.