The tired, ever-present talk about Newcastle’s biggest stars leaving refuses to leave circulation, but the recent message from one key player shows his faith in the club.

It almost comes with the territory when you sign high-profile players who are good enough to compete for titles, but the constant talk of our top players being linked with ‘bigger’ teams is becoming tiring.

This sentiment appears to be reflected by the players, with one of our star men letting his performances do the talking.

Gordon’s emphatic reply on exit link

The persistent Anthony Gordon to Liverpool rumours that gained serious traction during the summer are still ongoing, but the winger could not be clearer in his message. He wants to win with Newcastle.

Asked about his future and previous links to Liverpool, Gordon told The Chronicle: “I said a couple of weeks ago, I’ve got a long contract here, I intend to see that out, I’ve got no plans of leaving. I’m here to win a trophy, I’ve got a lot of goals ahead of me before I think about anything else.

“My performances are going to say that (I’m staying) the best. You see the way I run, the way I work hard for the team, that’s going to say a lot more than me telling you anything.”

Still only 23-years-old, Gordon is one of the best left wingers in the country and will still go on to improve from here – he still has so much more to offer at Newcastle and it’s a relief to hear him say unwaveringly that this is where his heart lies.

“Because the club has transitioned so quickly, other fans and other media outlets just pick the players… when we play well, it’s like ‘He’s got to move from Newcastle,’ but that’s not the reality. We’re fifth in the table, we’re a top club ourselves. It’s a load of rubbish, really.

“The project doesn’t really mean much to us, we all want to win now. People keep talking about the project from the outside because of how much the club has come on but that doesn’t really mean much to us.

“We’re trying to win now, we’re trying to win cups now, we’re trying to get back into the Champions League and if we do that then it’ll no longer be called a project will it because it’ll be what we want it to be.

“I think it’s easy from the outside to say but we actually live it. We live our lives at the football club. If you start listening to outside news you’re going to get distracted and it will take away from your performances. If you see the way we’re performing of late, it’s not the case here.”

It’s beyond refreshing to have a player come out and say exactly what you’re thinking. We’re a top club ourselves, with ambitions of our own, that we aren’t far off achieving (at least in the short term).

A tired narrative that has been part of the game for too long now, why oh why would any player stay at one of the minnows outside of the ‘big six’. 

Plus, if circumstances change and a deal is agreed that suits all parties, what more can we ask of Gordon than to give his best while playing in black-and-white? And he’s certainly done that recently.

Gordon back to his best after slow start

Our big players are performing when we needed them most. Sandro Tonali, Bruno Guimaraes and Alexander Isak have all been absolutely superb as of late – and Gordon is no exception, with his performances perhaps going under the radar a bit.

His belting goal for the opener against Aston Villa was without doubt the highlight of the month for the young winger, but his assist against Manchester United took his tally of goal contributions for December to a mightily impressive six.

The consistency of Gordon has been absolutely vital to our upturn in form. It isn’t just the goal contributions of the former Everton man, it’s his ball carrying abilities and work off the ball since moving back over to the left that have been absolutely vital.

It’s no surprise he is being linked with a move away as he would start for almost every team in the league, with very few exceptions even on the continent, but Gordon is showing no signs of lacking commitment to Newcastle.