Thomas Tuchel needs to follow Barcelona's lead and choose €80m-man Anthony Gordon to start for England at the World Cup over Marcus Rashford

It is first worth remembering how good of a footballer Rashford is. Formerly United's homegrown hero, he looked pretty down and out less than two years ago after a fall out with Ruben Amorim that led to Rashford insisting that he was "ready for a new challenge." A loan move to Aston Villa offered some hints of him getting back to his best, but it was clear Rashford needed a new permanent home to truly get his career back on track.

Barca were only willing to take him on loan, but the agreed €30m (£26m/$35m) option that was included within the deal was far from prohibitive. Though he would face a fight for minutes from Yamal, Raphinha, Robert Lewandowski and Ferran Torres, Rashford had the chance he needed to make a fresh start.

"[Barca sporting director] Deco and I, we spoke before the season about what we need. We need a player like him. I'm so happy to have him here in Barcelona," said Hansi Flick of Rashford in September, and the Englishman repaid his manager's faith to the tune of 14 goals and 11 assists, including a remarkable free-kick May's Clasico that helped secure the Liga title in style.

Rashford has since spoken of his desire to stay at Camp Nou, while numerous team-mates have urged the club to make his deal permanent. His form has ensured that the lifeline Tuchel threw him in March 2025 has remained intact all the way through to what will be his fifth major tournament.

Gordon's raw numbers were not as impressive as Rashford's during the 2025-26 season. Gordon did manage 17 goals, including 10 in the Champions League, but he played more minutes than his international colleague and provided only five assists.

His poor form in the Premier League played a major role in the Magpies sliding to a 12th-placed finish in the Premier League, and by the end of the campaign, Gordon was being left out all together as all parties looked towards an inevitable parting of ways.

But what Gordon can provide that Rashford cannot does not show up in the numbers of goals or assists they produce. Football has increasingly become about systems, rather than mercurial individual talents, and that is particularly prevalent within the international game, where star players have to be supported by a willing cast of runners and sidekicks to keep everything ticking along.

Gordon is the perfect running mate - quite literally. On the pitch, he rarely stops moving, whether his team are in or out of possession. He regularly makes runs down the channels to show for a through-ball, and though many of those efforts prove fruitless, he continues to show willing over and over again.

Without the ball, Gordon is a relentless presser, constantly harassing and hustling the opposition's backline. In one particularly remarkable sequence during the 2023-24 season, Gordon stripped Liverpool right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold of the ball, scampered past three defenders, and slotted home.

The underlying stats suggest much of the same. Gordon ran further per game - 7.43 kilometres - than Rashford last term. According to Statsbomb, he was in the 96th percentile for defensive actions, 98th for pressures and 94th for counter-pressures in the Premier League. Those numbers are pretty much as good as it gets.

And from a tactical perspective, Gordon's makes absolute sense. While Phil Foden and Cole Palmer are better pure footballers than the Scouser, neither fit into how Tuchel wants to play as well as Gordon does, hence them being left at home this summer.

England are structured around Harry Kane, and Tuchel has been willing to accommodate his captain's roaming instincts, encouraging him to create from deeper areas, as long as he knows he has a willing runner playing from wide who can fill the gaps that Kane vacates. Gordon is exactly that man.

Although he has operated as No.9 at times for both Everton and Newcastle, and could do again for Barcelona depending on who else signs to fill the void left by Lewandowski's departure, Gordon was raised and developed as a traditional touchline winger who makes the same run, over and over - and gets it right most of the time.

He is, then, the perfect complement for Kane when England have the ball. And without it, his work-rate should allow the skipper some time to rest his weary legs. The two have jelled effectively on the pitch, too, having spent 528 minutes playing with one another across 12 games. England won nine of those, notably a 5-0 battering of Latvia in which both Kane and Gordon scored.

Of course, this is always a risk when making such a call, but that is what England signed up for with Tuchel. The German is the ultimate systems man, and has no problem benching big names in favour of a coherent tactical setup.

In benching Rashford for Gordon, Tuchel would seem to continue that trend - one of systems over individual talent. One only has to look at the failures of Sir Gareth Southgate's England at Euro 2024 for reasons as to why the German might think that way, as the former boss stuck rigidly with certain players despite their performances not justifying repeat selection.

It's not as if Gordon can't thrill with the ball at his feet - he completed more take-ons per 90 than any other Newcastle player this past season - but it is the parts of his game that don't garner headlines which make him a better fit for this England team. Rashford might be more exciting and less predictable, but Tuchel needs to take this risk if the Three Lions are to go deep in North America.

Even if Rashford doesn't start, that doesn't mean he won't have a role at his tournament. Given the sweltering temperatures that England are expecting to be greeted with throughout the tournament, Tuchel is going to need to use his squad so as to ensure his starters do not burn out.

And with Palmer, Foden and others not available to the manager, Rashford profiles as one of the few game-changers who could be introduced off the bench and bring an additional dimension to the England attack, should one be required. Working the other way around, it's hard seeing Gordon being quite as effective, especially if Tuchel is chasing a game.

And so while it remains to be seen whether Barca opt to make Rashford's move permanent and put him in direct competition with Gordon for minutes at club level, the decision Tuchel needs to make is clear: Start Gordon - he cost €80m for a reason!