The Bruno Guimaraes to Arsenal transfer saga has picked up pace, now that Brazil’s participation in the World Cup is over. It has emerged that the midfielder has already asked to leave Newcastle United. If there was no truth to it, one would have imagined that they would have been denied officially by now.
Guimaraes has seen some of his best teammates leave over the past twelve months. Alexander Isak went to Liverpool. Anthony Gordon joined FC Barcelona. And now, Sandro Tonali has ended up at Tottenham Hotspur.
In many ways, Guimaraes is the last man standing. It is very easy to understand why he might be having doubts about continuing on at Newcastle United.
He will turn 29 years old in November. Surely, he will want to compete for the biggest trophies possible. But are the Magpies on that trajectory anymore? Arsenal most certainly are. So, it is easy to see why such a move would appeal to him.
Arsenal’s ‘odd’ decision in Bruno Guimaraes saga
According to Luke Edwards, Newcastle United have still had no contact with Arsenal over Guimaraes. No offers, no bids and no conversations to even ask about his availability or to explore what a deal could look like.
This has been described by sources as “very odd” given all the noise that has been generated over the last couple of weeks. What is clear is that there is a huge gap between what Newcastle United have been told, via intermediaries, that Arsenal would be willing to pay to sign Guimaraes and the club’s valuation of their captain and most important player.
It remains to be seen if Arsenal make direct contact over the coming days and weeks or not. It might be a sign that the club are only willing to make concrete moves if they are sure that there is a deal to be done.
Recent suggestions are that there is, but only for the right offer. What is that? Fabrizio Romano claimed on his recent YouTube video that Newcastle United would be looking for around £90 million.
Will Arsenal meet Newcastle United asking price for Bruno Guimaraes?
The £90 million figure is significant for any player. Then you take into consideration that Guimaraes is 28 years of age and even a club with the finances of Arsenal could have their doubts.
Mikel Arteta is believed to be a big fan of the Brazilian midfielder though. He is believed to have been the driving factor behind any potential move in the future.
If Guimaraes does end up leaving, Newcastle United will have a tough time finding a replacement for him. It is not easy to simply go out and replace your best player.
Also, the club’s transfer strategy seems to be based on finding good deals and signing quality youngsters. It has been suggested that they would want one of Guimaraes’ Brazilian national teammates to replace him.
READ MORE: Newcastle United want Bruno Guimaraes’ Brazil teammate to replace him
