Anthony Gordon already tipped for new role at Barcelona after playing just 25 minutes

Anthony Gordon has been tipped to solve a major issue at Barcelona and take up a permanent new role after his La Liga debut against Elche.

The 25-year-old signed for Barcelona from Newcastle for a fixed fee of £69.3 million at the beginning of the transfer window.

He made his competitive debut as a 65th-minute substitute away at Elche, replacing Lamine Yamal with the score at 2-0.

Barcelona scored three more goals before full-time to seal a comprehensive 5-0 victory, and Gordon provided assists for two of them.

Within three minutes of coming on, Gordon received the ball on the left flank and drove at the Elche defence before providing an inch-perfect through ball for Raphinha to finish into the bottom corner.

He was involved in the action again three minutes later, beating the offside trap to race in behind the defence before unselfishly knocking the ball across to Fermin Lopez for the Spaniard to tap home.

It was an impressive debut for Gordon and the Spanish media were quick to reach their initial verdicts over Barcelona's new signing in attack.

READ MORE: Spanish media reach Anthony Gordon verdict after his Barcelona debut

Anthony Gordon could receive immediate position change after Barcelona debut

It was Spanish outlet AS who posed an intriguing question about Gordon's role in the Barca side after he became the first player to register two assists on La Liga debut since the turn of the century.

READ MORE: Anthony Gordon smashes La Liga record on Barcelona debut after coming off the bench

They wrote: "Barcelona may have entered the season without a traditional No.9. Fair enough.

"But after a night like this, the question practically asks itself: do they really need one?"

Gordon was regularly deployed as a central striker by Eddie Howe during his final season at Newcastle due to a combination of Nick Woltemade's lack of effectiveness and Yoane Wissa's injury issues.

It is not, therefore, a role that is new to him, although his natural position throughout the vast majority of his career has been on either flank.

Barcelona, meanwhile, sanctioned the €50 million departure of Ferran Torres, who scored the winning goal for Spain in the World Cup final, to Paris Saint-Germain earlier this month.

Given Robert Lewandowski's departure as a free agent - and his subsequent arrival at MLS side Chicago Fire - as well as the club's decision not to sign Marcus Rashford on a permanent deal, it has meant they do not have a natural striker in the first team squad.

It was Raphinha who was given the nod up front against Elche, and Gordon's fellow new forward arrival Karim Adeyemi, plus midfielder Dani Olmo, can also play centrally if required.

But with Barca's summer-long pursuit of Julian Alvarez still going nowhere, given Atletico's refusal to sell to their Spanish rivals, Les Cules may have to think about internal solutions to their striker issue as the season gets underway.