NEWCASTLE United are confident the transfer uncertainty surrounding Anthony Gordon earlier this summer won't have unsettled the England forward and he'll return ready "to go to the next level".

Talks were held with Liverpool over Gordon in the final days of June as Newcastle faced a frantic dash to raise enough funds to ensure they didn't fall foul of the Premier League's profit and sustainability rules - with a potential 10-point deduction hanging over the Magpies at the time.

The Gordon discussions came to nothing and Newcastle raised the required funds thanks to the sales of Elliot Anderson and Yankuba Minteh, while the Magpies also received compensation from Manchester United for Dan Ashworth.

While the Gordon speculation played out in public, the former Everton winger was away with England at the European Championships. He'll now get an extended break before linking up with his teammates for pre-season and Newcastle are confident the 23-year-old will be unaffected by last month's developments.

"With all players they're professionals and this is the nature of the business where there's speculation," said chief executive Darren Eales.

"For us and for Anthony in a personal capacity, not getting more minutes perhaps than he could have in the Euros, Eddie will bring him back in here and he'll have a chip on his shoulder knowing what Anthony is like. We all know his personality.

"He's one of the most driven professionals I've ever worked with in terms of that single-mindedness. This is a big year for him. He was fantastic last season, for him to be able to kick on now this year with the squad we've got here, there's a real opportunity for him to go to the next level."

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After a difficult first six months on Tyneside following his move from Everton in January of last year, Gordon found his feet last season and was one of the Premier League's star performers. That led to an England call up for the European Championships but the Newcastle forward was a fringe figure, making only one cameo appearance from the bench.

Eales said: "From a personal capacity it was a shame that he didn't get more time because as we saw last season, Anthony can be a very dangerous player.

"He was one of the main attacking threats in the Premier League last season.

"We also saw the way that Eddie developed him because when he came mid-way through last season even Anthony will accept it took him a bit of time to get up to speed.  But we saw that way that Eddie can develop players and that is something that is Eddie's big strengths and what makes him such a good club manager because he has that day to day contact with the players out on the grass.

"That is psychological as well as a physical and tactical perspective, so for us Anthony's one of the many weapons we've got, that is the excitement we've got."

Alexander Isak is another key Newcastle asset who was attracting interest as the Magpies battled against the financial restrictions last month.

Eales said:  "Look, you know what the market is like, there will always be noise around any sort of transfer deadline. For us, it was one of those situations where we knew what we had to get to.

"In the end we had to do the deals that were right for the club, that made us compliant. So, from that perspective, we did what we had to do. But we kept what I would say are our core players, the type of players like Isak, Gordon, Bruno, Joelinton - those players who are our core."

Asked whether he expects Gordon, Bruno Guimaraes and Isak to still be Newcastle players come the start of the season, Eales replied: "Yes."