Barcelona have signed Anthony Gordon in a blockbuster deal with Newcastle United, making the forward just the second Englishman to represent the Catalan club this century.
The winger has put pen to paper on a five-year contract after completing a £69.3 million transfer to the Camp Nou.
Barcelona’s relationship with England goes back further than most football fans realise. Gordon will become the 13th Englishman to wear the red and blue in the club’s history, the first of whom came all the way back in the 19th century.
Fittingly, the St George’s cross features prominently on Barça’s crest, as ‘Sant Jordi’ is the the patron saint of the city and Catalunya.
Hey culer, Anthony Gordon has a message for you 🤳 pic.twitter.com/MYsWBvbzM1
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) May 30, 2026
The five-time Champions League winners went nearly 40 years without having an English footballer in their team, but like buses, two arrived in quick succession. Typical.
Marcus Rashford joined the club on loan from Manchester United last summer and went on to register 14 goals and 11 assists in all competitions. The deal included a €30m purchase option, but ironically, Gordon’s arrival might signal the end of Rashford’s time there.
The most high-profile Englishman to have played for the Catalans, however, remains Gary Lineker following his move to the Camp Nou from Everton in 1986. Lineker had scored 40 goals for the Toffees the previous season before winning the World Cup Golden Boot that summer.
After joining Barcelona, Lineker scored 52 goals in 138 games for Barcelona, including a hat-trick against Real Madrid in El Clásico. He won the Copa del Rey and European Cup Winners’ Cup during his time in Spain.
Another Englishman, Jack Greenwell, also holds a piece of Barcelona history. Greenwell spent five seasons with the club as a player and a decade as manager. After initially taking the reins as player-coach, he became Barcelona’s longest-serving manager between 1913 and 1923, twice winning the Copa del Rey.
In 2018, former Arsenal midfielder Marcus McGuane became the first Englishman to play for Barcelona’s first team in 29 years. However, McGuane’s appearance came in a Catalan Super Cup friendly against local rivals Espanyol.
Every Englishman to have played for Barcelona:
- Marcus Rashford – 2025-2026
- Gary Lineker – 1986-1989
- Harold Stamper – 1922-1923
- Jack Alderson – 1912-1913
- Jack Greenwell – 1912-1917
- Billy Lambe – 1912-1913
- Percy Wallace – 1909-1911
- Charles Wallace – 1907-1914
- Junior Morris – 1901-1902
- Samuel Morris – 1902
- Henry Morris – 1901-1902
- Arthur Witty – 1899-1905
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